Massasoit of the Wampanoags; with a brief commentary on Indian character; and sketches of other great chiefs, tribes and nations; also a chapter on Samoset, Squanto and Hobamock, three early native friends of the Plymouth colonists

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Cornell University Library
E g9.W2M41
Massasoit of the Wampanoags; w^^^^^

3 1924 009 709 373

B Cornell University
y Library

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tine Cornell University Library.

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the United States on the use of the text.

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924009709373

IIW Mmnt

IS PRESENTED TO

BT

THE MASSASOIT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION

In token of its appreciation of a contribution to the
fund for the erection at Plymouth, Massachusetts, of a
memorial to Massasoit.

Boston, Mass., 1919

President

Clerk

MASSASOIT OF THE WAMPANOAGS

MASSASOIT

OF THE WAMPAI^OAGS

WITH A BRIEF COMMENTARY ON INDIAN
CHARACTER; AND SKETCHES OF OTHER
GREAT CHIEFS, TRIBES AND NATIONS; ALSO
A CHAPTER ON SAMOSET, SQUANTO AND
HOBAMOCK, THREE EARLY NATIVE
FRIENDS OF THE PLYMOUTH COLONISTS

BY

ALVIN G. WEEKS

FAST GREAT SACHEU OF THE IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN

OF UABSACHUBETTS AND PRESIDENT OF THE MASSASOIT

MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION

PRIVATELY PRINTEt)

1920

COPTRIGHT 1919, BY

ALVIN a. WEEKS,
FALL RIVER, MASS,

1^ •;

S

THE. PLIMPTON- PRESS
HORWOOB'MASS.U'S'A

TO THE!

MEMORY OF MASSASOIT

GREAT BACHEM OF THE WAMPANOAG INDIANS, 1620-1661,
WHO, BY HIS FRIENDLY DISPOSITION TOWARDS THE
WHITES, AND HIS FAITHFUL OBSERVANCE OF HIS TREATY
OBLIGATIONS TO THEM, HAS EARNED THE UNDYING
QRATITDDE OF HUMANITY, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED.

FOREWORD

TiV the summer of 1910, while serving as
-"- Great Sachem of the Improved Order of Red
Men of Massachusetts, I had occasion to accom-
pany my Deputy Great Sachem for the Plymouth
District and a party of Great Chiefs and mem-
bers of the order with their families and friends,
on a visitation to the tribe located in that old his-
toric town. Our official duties performed, we
visited the many places of particular interest,
the spots especially consecrated to Freedom by
the restless energy of the men of three centuries
ago.

We saw the beautiful memorial erected to the
Pilgrims, and the memorable rock which their
feet first pressed on December 21, 1620; we
climbed the hill to view the spot where so many
of them were laid at rest during their first winter
of hardship and suffering, and where later the
ashes of many more were mingled with the dust;
we stood on the summit of Cole's Hill from
which we looked out upon, the harbor where the
Mayflower once lay at anchor; we saw the relics
of bygone days, exhibited in the Memorial Hall,

vii

VUl MASSASOIT

and traversed the same old streets laid out by the
fathers.

Many of us had seen it all before, while for
others it was the first visit; but, whether for the
first time, or to view again and again the old his-
toric spots, the real landmarks of the birthplace
of free government, as exemplified by nearly
three hundred years of colonial and national life,
the patriotic interest and enthusiasm of all alike
was thoroughly aroused.

A bronze tablet on a house on Leyden Street,
marking the spot where, on March 22, 1621,
Massasoit and Governor Carver entered into a
treaty of peace, friendship and mutual aid and
protection, attracted our attention. I had seen it
many times before, but it seemed fraught with a
new significance on that occasion. Whether the
mental association of the name of our order with
the aborigines, or that of my official designation
with that of the great chief of the Wampanoags
contributed to the thought, I cannot say; but for
some reason the suggestion came to my mind that
in 1920 the people of Massachusetts undoubtedly
would celebrate in fitting manner the third cen-
tenary of the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers.
In my report at the conclusion of my term in the
Great Chieftaincy, I brought this matter to the
attention of the Great Council with a recommen-
dation that steps be taken towards erecting, in
connection with the celebration of this Centen^

FOREWORD IX

nidi, a monument or other memorial to Massa-
soit, Great Sachem of the Wampanoags, who for
forty years religiously observed both the spirit
and the letter of the treaty he had made with the
colonists, and urged his sons to maintain the
same friendly relations. The recommendation
was not fruitful of immediate results, but even-
tually it took root, and, following it, some of the
members of the order formed a corporation under
the name of the Massasoit, Memorial Associa-
tion, for the purpose of carrying out the project.

Primarily the Improved Order of Red Men is
a patriotic society, tracing its descent from the
Sons of Liberty, and limiting its membership to
American citizens; and, while teaching pa-
triotism, it has endeavored to preserve some of
the customs of the aborigines, and to pay due
tribute to their many manly virtues, which we,
as the dominant race, have been too strongly in-
clined to overlook or to ignore. In pursuit of
this general purpose, and in aid of the project
which we have undertaken, this work has been
prepared for presentation to those who may de-
sire to contribute to the success of the enterprise.
It is our plan to Tnake this a popular movement,
that this statue when erected, may be the New
World's tribute to the noble Red Man who stood
guard over the cradle in which its liberties were
nurtured; and the principal object of the writer
in preparing this compilation of historical facts

X MASSASorr

has been to array these facts so that they will
■present a living, moving -panorama of the long
ago, an examination of which will disclose a com-
plete justification of the enterprise in aid of
which the book is written.

THE MEMORIAL

Fortunately, we have not been left in the dark
concerning Massasoit's personal appearance.
Edward Winslow, who was one of the hostages
for his safe return when he entered the settle-
ment at Plymouth to confer with Governor Car-
ver, and who saw him on that occasion and often
thereafter for many years, who was his friend,
and one whom Massasoit loved, has left us such
a complete and perfect description of him as is
to be found of but few men of those remote tinges;
and fortunately, we have succeeded in enlisting
the services of Cyrus E. Dallin of Arlington,
Massachusetts, eminent sculptor and portrayer
of Indian character, to translate Winshw's de-
scription into bronze. Massasoit was forty-one
years old when he first appeared to the Pilgrims,
and Mr. Dallin has created a model of the proud
warrior in the prime of life, bearing the peace
pipe to the strangers from across the great waters.
From this model it is proposed to erect a statue
of heroic size to be appropriately mounted on

FOBEWORD XI

Cole's Hill, immediately overlooking the fa-
mous rock against which the Mayflower's shallop
rested and upon which its occupants landed on
December 21, 1620. The Pilgrim Society of
Plymouth has offered the site, and has volunteered
to assume perpetual care of the statue when
erected. And so we present our case to the
people of the United States in an appeal to them
to participate in an enterprise, the purpose of
which is to pay deserved but belated tribute to
this great Chief, that he may forever stand guard
over the gateway through which the pilgrim
bearers of the torch of Liberty first entered New
England, even as he kept a watchful eye over her
early struggles for existence.

A. G. W.

Fall Rivbr, Mass.
May 10, 1919.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Inteoductobt 1

II. Indian Chahacteb 18

III. The Algonquins 45

rv. The Wampanoags 68

V. Massasoit 91

VI. Massasoit's Family 129

VII. Samosbt, Squanto anb Hobamock . . . 146

Vni. The Naeragansetts 160

IX. MlANTONOMO 178

X. The Pequots, Mohicans and other West-
ern Tribeb 194

XI. King Philip and his Captains .... 234

MASSASOIT OF THE WAMPANOAGS

MASSASOIT

I

INTRODUCTORY

ALMOST three hundred years have passed into
history since the Pilgrim ship bearing its
precious freight of human souls dropped anchor in
Cape Cod Bay, and its occupants sent out their
shallop in search of a suitable place for landing.
English ships had visited the New England coast
many times between the date of the discovery of
the New World by Columbus and that day; but
they had brought only explorers, adventurers,
traders and fishermen. Unlike the long line of its
predecessors, the Mayflower came laden with men,
women and children, bringing with them all their
earthly possessions; and, what was immeasurably
more important, the Anglo-Saxon love of Uberty,
which, developed imder the new conditions they
found here, has given us the boon of perfect liberty
and equaUty under the law, but not ia contraven-
tion of law.

They had come to stay. Denied the right to wor-
ship God in such form and manner as they saw fit,
persecuted for their non-conformity to the estab-

1

2 MASSASOIT

lished faith, they had fled from England to Hol-
land, and from the latter country to the wilderness
peopled only by natives who knew nothing of Einro-
pean civilization, European customs or European
rehgion, beyond what little they had learned from
traders; and that was not favorable to the Euro-
peans.

The century preceding their coming had wit-
nessed the most remarkable upheavals in the re-
ligious world of which history furnishes any record,
except the advent of men who have promulgated an
entirely new religion with such vigor that they
have succeeded in impressing their teachings upon
a considerable portion of the people of the world.

In 1517 Tetzel, a Dominican Friar, and the
guardian of the Franciscan Friars had been ap-
poiated by the Cardinal Archbishop of Mainz, joint
conamissaries for Saxony and North Germany, to
preach an indulgence to all who would contribute to
the rebuilding of St. Peter's Church at Rome; and
while Tetzel was preaching in the Schlosskirche at
Juterbogk, Luther had nailed to the door of the
kirche his ninety-five theses, in which he chal-
lenged Tetzel to a defence of his position, and took
an attitude contrary to the established order, from
which he ever after refused to recant.

A Httle later, Henry VIII of England, in conse-
quence of a quarrel with the Pope and Cardinals
concerning the dissolution of his marriage to Cather-
ine of Aragon, had established the Church of Eng-
land as an independent ecclesiastical body; and
still later John Calvin, a Frenchman, bom in the

INTRODUCTORY 3

year that Henry ascended the throne of England,
promulgated the Geneva Creed.

All these things had set the leaven of religious
liberty into a ferment which nearly blew the hd off
the mixing pan; and creeds without number sprang
up, especially among people who had chafed under
the restrictions which held them to forms of wor-
ship and to behefs estabhshed by others, whom they
thought no more capable of expounding the teach-
ings of the foimders of the religion they professed
than were they. If Luther the priest could dissent
from the teachings that had been inculcated into
his mind through a long course of training for his
profession; if the King of England, who had been
a firm adherent of the established order of things,
and had so ably defended the prerogatives of the
church of Rome that he bad been recognized by it
as "Defender of the Faith," could set up an inde-
pendent church, what Umit was to be placed upon
revolts against theological dogmas? What was to
prevent the men who followed Luther, the English
dissenters and Calvin in doing their own thinking,
from doing a little independent thinking on their
own account?

At any rate, this is just what happened, with the
result that the dissenters from the dogma of the first
dissenters foujid themselves in just as uncomfort-
able a position as that in which those first protes-
tants against the established religion were placed by
their protestations; for it is a pecuUar characteristic
of the human mind, that, having discovered what it
considers error in the tenets of any faith, and set

4 MASSASOIT

up its own standard, it at once becomes intolerant
of any one who suggests or even thinks that he has
the same right to dissent from the latest standard
established. So we find the Church of England
refusing to the followers of Calvin the same religious
hberty they had claimed in their defiance of the
Church of Rome.

It was this which drove the Pilgrims across the
Atlantic in search of a home in the wilderness where
they might be free from all restrictions upon their
religious liberty; and by the irony of fate, it was
this same working of the human mind, this same
characteristic of which I have just spoken, that led
them to acts of intolerance and oppression against
men of other reUgious beliefs and the heterodox
members of their own congregations, men whose
consciences would not allow them to subscribe to all
the tenets of the creed set up for them. It was this
that drove Roger Williams from Salem to seek ref-
uge first with Massasoit at Sowams, and later with
the Narragansetts at the place which he devoutly
named Providence; that sent Gorton from Ply-
mouth to the same Narragansett country; and
John Easton and a multitude of other Quakers
from the Massachusetts Bay colony to Rhode
Island and other places.

The Pilgrims and the Puritans came here in
search of a home where they might be free, but
closed their doors to others impelled by the same
love of freedom to flee their native land, thus fol-
lowing the example of those whose persecutions they
themselves had fled. In this they were but fol-

INTRODXJCTOEY 5

lowing the inscrutable workings of the human nund,
and indirectly and imintentionally laying the foun-
dations of a broader liberty than they ever be-
held in their wildest flights of fancy; for the very
intolerance which they displayed but sharpened the
spirit of resistance, and led to a more thorough
understanding of true liberty, the liberty to pursue
one's own inclinations until the pursuit reaches the
bounds of positive evil, or trespasses upon the like
hberties of another.

These reflections are pecuharly applicable to the
settlers of Southern New England, becaiise they
were the first to attempt to establish upon these
shores the principle of rehgious liberty for them-
selves, though denied to others. The Roman
Catholics in Maryland and the Quakers in Penn-
sylvania but followed the trail they blazed; and it
is in consequence of these facts that we of New
England claim for our barren soil the title of Birth-
place of the American Ideal, which if carefully con-
served and safeguarded, will become the ideal of the
world. Our New England soil may not be as pro-
ductive as that of the plains of our middle west or
of ovu* sunny south; but the atmosphere of New
England civil and rehgious Uberty that has sm--
rounded us has been highly productive of men and
women who have left the impress of their character
upon the life of the country. In fact, I question
whether any one will attempt at this late day to
gainsay the claim so often made that December 21,
1620, was the natal day of the American system of
government. Somewhat crude at its birth was the

b MASSASOIT

idea out of which that system has grown; but the
intolerance of restraint in matters of thought was
there, and it is this spirit of resistance to attempts to
limit the freedom of thought and action, running
through all our colonial history, that finally devel-
oped into that immortal docmnent, the Declaration
of Independence, written, it is true, by a lover of
hmnanity from fair Virginia, but breathing in its
every line the traditions of New England, which
had ere that time become the traditions of an in-
cipient nation.

The importance of that twenty-first day of De-
cember, 1620, and of the landing of the Pilgrim
fathers at Plymouth as an event in the history of
the country, aye of humanity, cannot be over-
estimated; nor can too high a valuation be put
upon all the agencies that contributed to the suc-
cess of the venture which drove them across the
water. Foremost among those agencies was the at-
titude of the natives towards these invaders of their
domain. Had they, in resentment of their treat-
ment at the hands of white adventurers, explorers
and traders, assumed a hostile attitude, with the
limited means of making the long and dangerous
voyage across the sea at that time, they could un-
doubtedly have wiped out the colonies as fast as
they could have been planted, and thus set back
the history of our country for at least a hundred
years; the early history of New England would
have been written in characters of blood on every
hillside and plain instead of characters of living
light for the illumination of the world; and without

INTRODUCTORY 7

the history of New England, the history of the
United States, aye, even of humanity, would be a
different tale from that we teach our children and
read in the record of current events.

The present moment, with the statesmen of the
free nations of the world assembled at Versailles
for the discussion of a means for securing the peace
of the world, seems a peculiarly appropriate time
for calling attention to the first peace conference
ever held on American soil, in which the white race
participated on equal terms with the aborigines, of
which we have any record; and its coming, as it
does, on the eve of the three hundredth anniversary
of that original conference, adds to the significance
of the treaty growing out of that conference.

It is not my purpose to write a history of the
early colonial days. Events as they occurred were
recorded by men who participated in them; and
later writers, whose name is legion, drawing their
information from these early historians, have dwelt
upon the facts they set down, with all the embel-
lishments capable of being given to them by the
thoughtful mind and the facile pen. He who at-
tempts to write history three hundred years after
the happening of the events he records, with no
new facts, disclosed by research at sources hitherto
unexplored, must needs possess the skill to paint his
narrative in colors never before essayed, or content
himself with being a mere compiler of facts gathered
and recorded by others. Unless his is the faculty of
saying things in a more pleasing manner or of array-
ing his facts in such a way that they will present a

8 MASSASOIT

more attractive picture than has been before por-
trayed by them, his excuse for writing is indeed
small.

No new facts will be presented by the narrative
I am imdertaking, nor do I lay claim to any magic
in the wielding of the pen that will make the old
appear new. All that I shall attempt is to rescue
from a mass of other matter in which they are so
buried as to be almost inaccessible to the reader
who has not the time or the inclination for wide
research, certain historic facts, with a view to calling
attention to some of the errors that have sprung up
concerning the aborigines whom our fathers foimd
in possession of this fair land when they first set
foot upon its shores; to array those facts, gleaned
from the writings of the men who participated in
the stirring events of which they write, in such
form that the array will assist in a better under-
standing and higher appreciation of the true rela-
tions between the original possessors of the land
and the invading settlers from the old world, than
the average reader is likely to gather from a limited
reading of early history in which the subjects to
which I desire to call attention are passed over
with a word.

Many of the most important features of that
early history are almost entirely lost to the majority
of readers for the reasons that I have suggested.
True, every reader of American history knows of
the struggles of the early settlers with hostile bands
of natives, and of their privations and hardships in
every foi-m; he knows of the visit of Samoset to

INTRODUCTORY 9

the Pilgrims a few months after they knded at
Pljonouth and of his greeting, "Welcome, English-
men"; he has heard something of Squanto and of
Hobamock; but how much does he really know
about them? And yet, the part played by them
and others of their kind in the early struggles of
the infant colony, their faithfulness to their treaty
obhgations and their loyalty and devotion to those
to whom they had thereby bound themselves, form
the brightest pages in the annals of Colonial New
England.

The story of Canoiiicus of the Narragansetts, and
his haughty challenge to the colonists at Plymouth,
sent in the form of a bimdle of arrows bound in a
rattlesnake's skin, and of Governor Bradford's
defiant reply, is familiar to every American school-
boy; but how many know that, following and
probably in consequence of this incident, the Nar-
ragansetts were firm friends of the whites for more
than twenty years, until the death of their beloved
sachem Miantonomo, the nephew of Canonicus, at
the hands of the fierce Uncas of the Mohicans?
Probably every reader of American history remem-
bers the story of that imjustifiable death, and of
Uncas' cutting a slice of flesh from the shoulder of
his still quivering victim and eating it, declaring it
to be the sweetest meat he ever ate; but how
many know that eight conomissioners of the colonies
in Massachusetts and Connecticut authorized this
cold-blooded murder of one of the most faithful
friends the whites had among the red men, and
thereby aroused the hostility of the Narragansetts,

10 MASSASOIT

the most powerful confederation in New England,
to such an extent that it was never allayed until
the extermination of that federation in King PhiUp's
war?

Every one knows something about that war, but
what percentage of even the well informed men of
today can tell you any of the causes that led up to
it, except possibly, the land question, which was
really the least of the causes? How many know
that Philip, the so-called "viadictive, bloodthirsty,
cruel savage," showed more humanity in his treat-
ment of whites during the war than was shown by
the colonists towards their enemies?

Since writing the foregoing Hues, my attention
has been called to a matter which gives added force
to what I have said concerning the general lack of
information upon the subject of which I write.
Within a few days the following appeared in a daily
paper published in Providence.

"Miss Elizabeth B. ChampUn, a direct descend-
ant of the old Ninigret tribe of Indians which was
BO prominent in Southern Rhode Island more than a
century ago, died at Westerly yesterday. She was
100 years and 10 months old, having been bom
just over the Une in Connecticut on June 23, 1818.

"She was a resident of Westerly all her life prac-
tically, and was a daughter of Jesse and Hager
Champlin, her father being a member of the Nini-
gret tribe."

I am not sufficiently famiUar with the history of
Rhode Island for the past hundred years to assert
positively that there was not a tribe there known

INTRODUCTOET 11

as the Ninigret Indians; but if a tribe under that
name did exist, the appellation Ninigret was a mis-
nomer, and probably was given to the remnant of
the Niantio tribe which followed its sachem — Nini-
gret — in taking sides with the EngUsh in King
Philip's war. The whites may have given them the
name of their sachem after the war, meaning thereby
simply Ninigret's Indians or Ninigret's tribe. The
nearest approach to this name in the early histories
is fovmd in the records of one of the old writers who
speaks of the Eastern Niantics as Ninnicrafts, this
also being the name sometimes given to the sachem
Ninigret; but Ninigret was a Niantic, and the
Eastern Niantics being under the protection of the
Narragansetts, and perhaps closely related to them,
most early writers speak of him as one of the Nar-
ragansett sachems.

The news writer may be speaking from exact
knowledge, but to the man interested in tracing
names to their sources, the article referred to leaves
too much to be further inquired into or simply in-
ferred; and I call attention to the matter at this
time solely for the purpose of emphasizing what I
have said on the subject.

Wherever there is a lack of knowledge of many
of these interesting facts, it is due simply to the tend-
ency of the dominant race to exploit the deeds of its
ancestors, and to a perfectly natiu:al impulse on the
part of the descendants of the empire builders of
three centuries ago to dwell upon the courage,
energy and devotion to principle of the sturdy men
who braved the terrors of the deep and the dangers

12 MASSASOIT

of an unknown land, to plant upon these shores a
government founded upon ideals which they had
developed.

And so, without attempting to write history or
even to essay the work of a compiler, the writer has
prepared the following brief sketches of character,
groups, tribes, and men in such a way that a care-
ful reading of the whole will present a living, mov-
ing panorama of the olden times, not a complete
picture in any sense, but simply a sketch, a glimpse
through the foliage that will reveal enough to lead
to a better appreciation of the services rendered by
the lost race in laying the foundations of ovu" liberty.
If my effort assists, in only a small degree, in se-
curing a fair hearing before the tribunal of public
opinion for a much maUgned people, I shall feel
that my labor has not been in vain. So bitter has
been the arraignment of the red men by some of
the writers of the early days, as well as by many
who have followed them, that I have not hesitated
to use language in characterizing their writings, and
sometimes themselves, that may appear uimeces-
sarily harsh; but there is such a perfectly apparent
spirit of unfairness nmning through their narratives
that they merit little sympathy.

One thing we cannot keep too constantly in mind,
and that is that the red men left no records. The
history of the events in which they participated was
written, for the most part, by their enemies; and
it is only by digging up a line here and a sentence
there, that one is enabled to get together anything
that wiU do justice to the character of the race they

INTRODUCTORY 13

exterminated, and then, to justify their treatment
of them, attempted, by their writings, to cover
with infamy.

We can afford to approach the subject without
passion or prejudice; and, reading between the
lines, draw oin* own conclusions of the right and the
wrong of the struggle for supremacy waged between
the contending races. One is amazed to read from
the pen of Schoolcraft, who wrote as late as 1849,
such a sentiment as this concerning King Phihp.
"We may lament that such energies were misapplied,
but we cannot withhold oiu* respect for the man
who, though lacking the motives that lead Christian
martyrs to the stake and civilized heroes to the
'inmiinent deadly breach,' was yet capable of com-
bining all the military strength and political wis-
dom of his country and placing the colonists in
decidedly the greatest peril through which they had
ever passed." This is the same Phihp of whom
Major Daniel Gookin, commander of the Middlesex
regiment in the war, wrote, "he was a person of good
understanding and knowledge of the best things,"
quoted with apparent approval by Schoolcraft.

Just what motives are referred to as leading
"civiUzed heroes" to the "imminent deadly
breach," that were lacking in Philip is not entirely
clear, unless the author quoted means his readers
to infer that what is a virtue in civilized heroes is a
vice in those who are less civilized, or that the less
civihzed are devoid of sentiment and incapable of
being moved by the law of self-preservation and
the motive of defence of family, home and native

14 MASSASOIT

land. "We may lament that such energies were
misapplied." In fact, it is one of the things that
ought to give us food for reflection and serious re-
gret, that our fathers thought it necessary by their
acts of oppression and wrong, to drive Philip and his
followers to the misapplication of their energies, in-
stead of turning them to the advantage of both
races. We commend the "civilized heroes" of aU
ages and of all nations who have sprung to the
"imminent deadly breach" in defence of all that
life holds dear; and the same historians who sing
their praises have iUogically devoted their energies
for more than two centuries to an attempt to palliate
or excuse the crimes of the whites, by condemning
the simple natives who remained steadfast in the
defence of the same principles for which heroes have
died since history began.

Speaking of King Phihp's war in general, School-
craft continues: "It is interesting to observe the
fate of this people who were the object of so much
benevolent care after the passage of an epoch of
Uttle less than two centuries. The great blow to
the permanent success of this work was struck by
the imfortimate and general war which broke out
under the indomitable sachem called Metacom,
better known as King Philip. He drew aU but the
Christian converts and the Mohigans into this
scheme. Even these were suspected. The cruel-
ties which were committed during this war pro-
duced the most bitter hatred and distrust between
the parties. The whole race of Indians was sus-
pected and from the advance of this unwise war on

INTRODUCTORY 15

the part of the natives, we must date the suspicion
and unkind feelings which were so prevalent and
which yet take up the American mind."

"Benevolent care!" One knows not whether to
laugh in derision or to weep in pity at the utter lack
of discernment of the man who sees "benevolent
care" in systematic robbery and oppression, coupled
with wholesale degradation through the sale of rum.
This was the colonists' "benevolent care."

"The cruelties which were committed during this
war" were not confined to the period of the war.
They were begun by the English and systematically
carried out for thirty years before the natives saw
the doom of their people in their continuation and
rose in revolt; and during the war the balance is
on the wrong side of the ledger for the whites to
complain.

"The whole race of Indians was suspected," and
for a long time before, had been suspected of a de-
sire to live in freedom; and "the suspicion and un-
kind feelings which were so prevalent and which yet
take up the American mind," have resulted from the
reading of the histories of prejudiced writers like
Hubbard, Mather, Schoolcraft and scores of others,
who, through prejudice, or a desire to cover the sins
of the fathers by raising such a storm of slander and
disparagement of the men whom they were bent to
destroy, as to becloud the vision, present only one
side of the case and appeal to their readers to pass
judgment on the merits of the whole cause from the
evidence thus adduced; or rather to accept their
judgment without looking at the other side.

16 MASSASOIT

-Unfortunately for the memory of the vanished
race, too many men are content to accept the dic-
tum of such historians without question; but, on the
other hand, fortunately for the cause of truth, the
white man has, perhaps inadvertently, allowed
enough to get into the records to enable the discern-
ing and discriminating reader to reverse the judg-
ment. The modem tendency to "hew to the line,
let the chips fall where they may," is leading to a
better understanding and a more favorable con-
sideration of Indian character. A careful analysis of
the history of the early colonies is bound to result in
the shattering of many idols; but desperate indeed
is the situation of any people whose past and present
cannot stand the fuU glare of the searchhght of truth.

Our fathers have builded well, better perhaps
than they dreamed; upon the foundations they laid,
their sons have reared the superstructure of per-
fect hberty and equality before the law. Enough of
credit and glory attaches to them, without attempt-
ing to cast a glamor of sanctity about them and their
acts, to the discredit and infamy of the race they
conquered and destroyed under a mistaken belief
that its annihilation was necessary to make their
own position secure.

This book is not written for savants. There is
nothing in it that they do not know, although they
may not agree with some of the writer's ' conclu-
sions; but to the busy man who has not had the
time or the inclination to make the little side trips
into the realm of historical research that would en-
able him to discern what is true and what is false.

INTEODUCTORY 17

we extend the invitation to come with us along the
trails our fathers blazed, to go back in fancy over
the ground they traversed, to take an account of the
conditions they encoimtered; and to draw his own
inferences and conclusions.

If the perusal of this series of Uttle sketches
presents nothing that has hitherto escaped your at-
tention, let it, at least, refresh your recollection of
the story of the olden times. Let it recall the hard-
ships endured by the pioneers, the perils they faced
to plant upon these new foimd shores the tree of
Uberty, and to nourish and sustain it in the early
days of its growth, ere it had attained sufficient
strength to withstand the blasts of adversity. Let
it impress upon you the duty we owe to the memory
of a vanished race to give it the full measure of
credit to which it is entitled, as one of the agencies
that contributed to the early growth and develop-
ment of the colonies which gave us a nation. With-
out the friendship of that race, the history of New
England would be written in different characters
than it is today, and without New England, what
would have been the history of America?

As we look back upon the past, comparing it as
it was with what it might have been but for the
friendship of Massasoit, and the beneficent effects
of that friendship, as a bulwark of protection for
that feeWe band who laid the foundation of our free
institutions, we shudder to think, "how weak a hand
may turn the iron helm of fate"; by how slender a
hair the sword of destiny hangs suspended above
the heads of men and nations.

II

INDIAN CHARACTER

SO much has been said and written about the
character of the aborigines that the subject
may be thought to have been exhausted long ago;
and so it is, except as individual thought and indi-
vidual analysis of the various appraisals of Indian
character may contribute to a better imderstanding
of it; for, notwithstanding the various estimates
that have been made, or rather in consequence of the
apparent contradictions in them, it may be worth
while to compare a few of them for the purpose of
ascertaining the cause of the contradictions, and de-
termining whether there is any real conflict, or only
an apparent one resulting from the changes wrought
by time and circumstances. No value would attach
to such an attempt, but for the fact that we are too
prone to form our opinions from too limited reading,
in which we may see but one side of a matter; and
even if we have read both sides, the way in which
one writer has arrayed his facts, the language used,
in a word, the picture he presents, may make a more
lasting impression than that of any other, and so
we unconsciously form our opinion from that which
has thus appealed to us and written itself upon the
tablets of our memory most ineffaceably.

18

INDIAN CHABACTEK 19

The principal difficulty with most of the later
portrayals of Indian types and character that have
been presented to us has been that they have
painted the Indian as he was after generations of
demoralizing contact with the white man and his
ci"vilization, demoraUzing because first attempts to
engraft civihzation upon the natural stock inevita-
bly result in the absorption by the children of
nature of all the evils of civilization and the rejection
of the good, just as children acquire evil habits more
readily than correct ones, even when most zealously
watched and guarded. The result of the early at-
tempts to teach the aborigines of this continent the
arts of civihzation has been the creation of a charac-
ter so immeasm-ably worse than that of the natives
ia their primitive state that one shudders to think
of the monstrosity that grew out of the attempt.
There is enough of evil in the best of men, and if
only the good that has come to the advanced races,
without its attendant evils, could be impressed upon
the plastic minds of men in their natural state, thus
leading them httle by Uttle away from the vices of
barbarism without leading them into the vices of
civihzation, the history of the world would be written
in different characters than it is. For no one will
attempt to gainsay the fact that the enhghtenment
of ages has resulted, not only in the production of
much that is of real value to the cause of progress
and of humanity, but also of as much that has
been a stumbling block to trip the unwary. Science
has produced as much evil as good, and yet we
would not descry science on that accoimt, because

20 MASSASOIT

the path is open before us to choose the good and
reject the evil in so far as it affects our own most
intimate life; so we would not destroy the good be-
cause it is accompanied by evil, but rather avoid,
and assist those who grope in darkness to avoid,
the pitfalls that science has dug for unwary feet.
Had our fathers pursued this course, much that
has been written concerning Indian character would
not have found a place upon the pages of history.

Francis Parkman, Jr., from whose writings I shall
have occasion to quote from time to time, although
a man of painstaking research, and a vivid painter
of word pictures, seems to have fallen into this gen-
eral error of delineating the character of the red
man as it was after he had fallen a victim to too
many of the demoralizing vices introduced by con-
tact with the white man's civilization, which have
had a tendency to exaggerate many of the charac-
teristics to which Parkman calls attention to such an
extent that, in reading his description, we are con-
stantly under the necessity of keeping this fact in
. mind and of using it as a pruning knife with which
to lop off the artificial growths and reduce condi-
tions he describes to their normal state.

His description, however, is so vivid and contains
so much of truth as established by the incontro-
vertible facts disclosed by history, and such a re-
markable commentary on the workings of the
human mind, that I am taking the hberty of lifting
it bodily from the introductory chapter of his story
of the Conspiracy of Pontiac, making such comments
as seem to me to be warranted; and asking the

INDIAN CHARACTER 21

reader to consider it in the light of the facts to
which I have called attention. He says:

"Of the Indian character much has been written
foolishly, and credulously beUeved. By the rhap-
sodies of poets, the cant of sentimentaUsts, and the
extravagance of some who should have known
better,, a counterfeit image has been tricked out,
which might seek in vain for its likeness through
every comer of the habitable earth; an image
bearing no more resemblance to its original than the
monarch of the tragedy and the hero of the epic
poem bear to their hving prototypes in the palace
and the camp. The sha,dows of his wilderness home,
and the darker mantle of his own inscrutable re-
serve, have made the Indian warrior a wonder and
a mystery. Yet to the eye of rational observation,
there is nothing uninteUigible in him. He is full, it
is true, of contradiction. He deems himself the
centre of greatness and renown; his pride is proof
against the fiercest torments of fire and steel; and
yet the same man would beg for a dram of whiskey
or pick up a crust of bread thrown to him like a dog
from the tent door of a traveler. At one moment
he is wary and cautioiis to the verge of cowardice;
at the next he abandons himself to the very insanity
of recklessness, and the habitual self-restraint which
throws an impenetrable veil over emotion is joined
to the wild, impetuous passions of a beast or a mad
man. Such inconsistencies, strange as they seem
in our eyes, when viewed under a novel aspect,
are but the ordinary instincts of humanity. The
qualities of the mind are not imiform in their ac-

22 MASSASOIT

tion through all the relations of life. With different
men and different races of men, pride, valor, pru-
dence, have different forms of manifestation, and
where in one instance, they he dormant, in another
they are keenly awake. The conjunction of great-
ness and httleness, meanness and pride, is older
than the days of the patriarchs; and such anti-
quated phenomena, displayed imder a new form in
the imreflecting, undisciphned mind of a savage,
call for no special wonder, but should rather be
classed with the other enigmas of the fathomless
heart."

I have been constrained to quote thus freely, be-
cause it illustrates what I have already said concern-
ing the mongrel produced by crossing the native
barbarism with the evils of civilization. Parkman
has given us in some respects a perfect picture of the
child of the forest; but in parts of his characteriza-
tion he has portrayed him as he was after he had
been robbed of his lands, driven from his hunting
grounds, defrauded of his petty substance and re-
duced to starvation by the ruthless destroyers of
his race; his savage nature rendered a thousand
times more savage by the white man's outrages and
the white man's rum. Before contact with the
white race had reduced him to the condition de-
scribed by Parkman in some of these passages, Gos-
nold, Rofier and Smith met him, and their testi-
mony establishes his character in his original state.

Continuing Parkman says: — "Some races of
men seem moulded in wax, soft and melting, at
once plastic and feeble. Some races," like some

IiroiAN CHAEACTER 23

metals, combine the greatest flexibility with the
greatest strength. But the Indian is hewn out of
rock. You cannot change the form without de-
stroying the substance. He will not learn the arts
of civilization and he and his forest must perish
together." This was written in 1851, and the last
sentence has since been so completely refuted by the
experience of the past quarter century that it almost
leads us to doubt the accuracy of the entire ap-
praisal. Some parts of it however, so perfectly
accord with what we have learned from other
sources that we may safely accept the whole, mak-
ing due allowance for what are simply conclusions,
and for the demoralizing effects of the agencies to
which I have already called attention.

In conclusion Parkman says, "He has a hand
bountiful to bestow as it is rapacious to seize, and
even in extremest famine, imparting its last morsel
to a fellow sufferer, a heart which, strong in friend-
ship as in hate, thinks it not too much to lay down
life for its chosen comrade; a soul true to its own
idea of honor, and burning with an unquenchable
thirst for greatness and renown." All of which
leads us back to his reflection that these are "but
the ordinary instincts of himianity," and "should
be classed with the other enigmas of the fathomless
heart."

Far out on the western plains or in the foot hills
of the Rocky Mountains during the life and death
struggle between the ever receding wave of red
men and the restless ever advancing wave of invad-
ing whites, originated a saying which has been so

24 MASSASOIT

often repeated that most of us have come to accept
it as a truism, without stopping to consider all the
facts that have contributed to the condition which
gave rise to the expression. "There is no good In-
dian but a dead Indian," said some one of the men
who had been sent either to quell some uprising
among the natives, or to remove them from the
lands their fathers had hunted and fished for genera-
tions, or that had been allotted to them at some
earlier period when the cupidity of the whites,
coveting their former abode, even as they now
coveted the later, impelled them to press the red
skins farther and farther towards the setting sun.
Error, oft repeated, sometimes assmnes the appear-
ance of truth, and acts of cruelty often lent color to
the maxim. Before accepting this judgment as
final, however, it will be well to look into the char-
acteristics of the race; compare them with other
races that have not attained the topmost round of
the ladder of civilization and consider the treatment
accorded them by the whites. In this way, and
only in this way, wiU we be able to determine
whether the author of the expression has made an
accurate appraisal of the Indian character. If we
look upon the Indian as a child, and regard that
child as a good child or otherwise in proportion to
his promptness in doing as he is told, it will be diffi-
cult to deny the truth of the saying. If by good
Indian, we mean the Indian who is willing to sub-
mit to every indignity and insult that the ingenuity
of civiUzation can devise, who will permit himself
to be kicked from pillar to post without protesting

INDIAN CHARACTER 25

in the most forcible manner known to him, who is
willing to give up to others the lands of his fathers,
who kisses the hand that smites him, and grovels
in the dust before the people who would rob him
and reduce him to virtual slavery, it is useless to
attempt to gainsay the maxim; and, by the same
standard, there is no good man, whether his skin
be red, or white, black, brown or yellow, but a dead
man, for a careful study of history inevitably leads
to the conclusion that hviman nature is very much
the same regardless of the color of a man's skin;
and that any man with red blood in his veins will
fight with such weapons as he possesses, and accord-
ing to his light, for much the same ideals, foremost
among which is the protection of his home and
family and the graves of his fathers, for

" How can man die better than facing fearful odds
For the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods,
And for the tender mother that dawdled him to rest,
And the gentle wife that fondles his children to her
breast?"

To form a correct estimate of Indian character,
it will be necessary to look into their hfe before it
had been influenced by contact with the whites, and
to inquire how their life and character have been
affected by that contact.

Every student of American history knows of the
reception of Colmnbus by the imtutored children of
the islands, and of the homage they paid to the
wonderful strangers who had come from the land of
the rising sun in great canoes with the wings of a
bird; of the courtesy and kindness of the natives

26 MASSASOIT

to them, the treasures they freely bestowed upon
them; and of the way in which the whites repaid
their courtesy and kindness, by seizing their people
and carrying them unwilling captives to Spain.
This same kindness and courtesy were extended to
nearly all the early explorers, and repaid in nearly
all instances in the same way. Following the ex-
ample of Colirmbus, and the early Spanish explorers,
John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497 seized and carried
away three natives to be exhibited as curiosities at
the court of Henry VII. Caspar Cortereal, a Por-
tuguese navigator, in 1500 captm-ed a number and
sold them into slavery. These are only two con-
crete examples of what was undoubtedly the general
practice among the adventurers who crossed the
ocean in those early days in search of the treasures
of the Indies. In spite of this, Bartholomew Gos-
nold in 1602, after more than a century of such out-
rages, says of them, "These people are exceeding
courteous, gentle of disposition, and well condi-
tioned." In 1605, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who was
at that time the commander of the Port of Ply-
mouth, England, sent Captain George Waymouth
to the New England coast on a trading expedition.
There is some disagreement among historians as to
the exact place of the episode of which James
Rofier, a member of his crew, and apparently the
official secretary of the expedition, wrote, some
placing it lq the Narragansett coimtry and others
at Pemaquid on the Maine coast. Rofier writes,
"When we came on shore, they most kindly enter-
tained us, taking us by the hand and brought us to

INDIAN CHARACTER 27

sit down by their fire; they filled their pipes and
gave us of their excellent tobacco as much as we
would." This kind entertainment was repaid as re-
lated by Rofier in a communication dated Jime 14,
1605. "About eight o'clock this day, we went on
shore with our boats to fetch aboard water and wood.
Our captain, lea-ving word with the gunner in the
ship, by discharging a musket, to give notice if they
espied any canoe coming and which they did about
ten o'clock. He therefore, being careful they should
be kindly treated, requested me to go aboard, in-
tending with dispatch to make what haste after he
possibly could. When I came to the ship, there
were two canoes and in either of them three savages,
of whom two were below at the fire; the others
seated in their canoes about the ship, and because
we could not entice them aboard, we gave them a
can of peas and bread, which they carried to the
shore to eat; but one of them brought back our can
presently and staid aboard with the other two; for
he being yovmg of a ready capacity, and one we
most desired to bring with us into England had
received exceeding kind usage at our hands and was
therefore much dehghted in our company. When
our captain was come, we consulted how to catch
the other three at shore, which we performed thus:
we manned the Lighthorseman []boat] with seven or
eight men; one, standing before, carried our box of
merchandise as we were wont when I went to
traflSc with them, and a platter of peas, which meat
they loved, but before we were landed one of them
(beiag so suspiciously fearful of his own good) with-

28 MASSASOIT

drew himself into the wood. The other two met us
on the shore side to receive the peas, with which we
went up the cliff to their fire and eat down with
them; and while we were discussing how to catch
the third man who was gone, I opened the box and
showed them trifles to exchange, thinking thereby
to have banished fear from the other, and drawn
him to return; but when we could not, we used
httle delay but suddenly laid hands upon them and
it was as much as five or six of us could do to get
them iato the Lighthorseman; for they were strong,
and so naked as our best hold was by their long hair
on their heads; and we would have been very loth
to have done them any hurt, which of necessity we
had been constrained to have done if we had at-
tempted them in a multitude; which we must and
would rather than have wanted them, being a matter
of great importance for the full accomplishment of
our voyage."

Among these five was Tahanedo, a Sagamore.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges writes of them that when
they landed at Plymouth, England, he seized them
and, further, that they were all of one nation but
of several parts and several families, and concludes,
"This accident must be acknowledged the means,
imder God, of putting on foot and giving life to all
our plantations; and having kept them fully three
years, I made them able to set me down what great
rivers run up into the land, what men of note were
seated on them, of what power they were, how
allied, and what enemies they had."

The reason given for this kidnapping of the

INDIAN CHABACTER 29

natives by Waymouth was, not for the purpose of
making slaves of them, but to treat them kindly
and thus induce them to give his employers informa-
tion concerning the country that could not other-
wise be obtained — a fine distinction in the view of
ovu: modern ideas of slavery. They were to be held
for a long period of time against their will, to per-
form service for the men by whom they were held,
but not as slaves.

It appears that in 1606, two of these captives
were sent out with Captain Henry Challons on a
trading expedition, but ChaUons and the natives were
captured by the Spaniards. How long they were
held does not appear, but they are both known to
have returned to England at a later date.

In 1611, another of Gorges' captains, Edward
Harlow, seized three natives at "Monhigon" Is-
land. One of them got away and, gathering a
number of others with him, he made a demonstra-
tion against the ship and cut loose a boat which they
took to the shore, and which the ship's crew were
unable to retake. Harlow then went south as far
as "Capoge" (vmdoubtedly Martha's Vineyard).
My reason for saying undoubtedly Martha's Vine-
yard is the similarity between this name and one of
the Indian names of that island, Capawack, and the
further fact that the name of one of the men whom
he seized there is identical with that of the sachem of
that island in 1621. At Capoge, Harlow seized two
Indians named Coneconam and Epenow, and at
Nohono, he seized another named Sakaweston.
With these five he returned to England.

30 MASSASOIT

In 1614 still another of Gorges' captains named
Hobson, on an expedition to the New England coast
brought back Epenow with him. It is related that
when he arrived in his native country, Epenow con-
spired with some of his friends to effect his escape,
and that they came to rescue him with twenty
canoes; that Epenow slipped from the ship, and his
friends in the canoes let fly such a shower of arrows
upon and about the ship that its crew were xmable
to retake him.

In 1619, Captain Thomas Dermer, another of
Gorges' captains, on the occasion of his visit to the
New England coast, met Epenow, who told him of
his escape. Epenow learned from him that he was
in Gorges' service and made inquiry about hina, but
probably believing that Dermer had been sent to
recapture him and take him back to England, he
gathered a number of his people and attacked Der-
mer, apparently with the intent to take him prisoner;
"but he being a brave stout gentleman," drew his
sword and freed himself from them, though not with-
out much difficulty, as it is related that he received
fourteen wounds in the encounter, of so serious a
nature that he was obliged to go to Virginia to have
them attended to.

It was on the occasion of this visit that Dermer
learned of another outrage perpetrated by the
whites upon the natives. In a letter dated June 20,
1620, he writes that the Pokanokets "bear an in-
veterate malice to the English"; and that this
enmity was "aroused by an Englishman, who had
many of them on board, and made a great slaughter

INDIAN CHARACTER 31

with their murderers [^small cannon or mortars] and
small shot, when, as they say, they offered no in-
jury." Dermer doubts whether these were Enghsh
or French, who, as Winslow learned on the occasion
of his visit to Sowams in 1621, did much fishing in
Narragansett Bay. Whether English or French is
not of much consequence. They were whites, and
their act would naturally arouse the ire of the out-
raged natives against the white race. From our
knowledge of the treatment of the natives by the
French as compared with that of the English, how-
ever, we are safe in concluding that Dermer had
very little reason for the doubt. This was another
chapter in the history of maUcious treatment of the
Indians which would never have seen the hght of
day but for this letter of Captain Dermer.

In this connection, the fact that this attack was
made upon the people of the same Great Sachem
who less than a year after the letter was written and
probably within seven or eight years of the time of
the outrage of which Dermer writes, trailed forty
miles to Plymouth to extend to the Pilgrims the
ohve branch of peace, is worth a word of comment
in passing.

In 1614 Captain John Smith with a fleet of trad-
ing vessels visited the new world and skirted the
shores of New England from the Penobscot to and
aroimd Cape Cod. From his observations made on
this occasion, he drafted a map of the coast, a copy
of which appears in Governor WiUiam Bradford's
history of Plymouth Colony, as published by
the Massachusetts Historical Society. This map,

32 MASSASOIT

though not without its inaccuracies, shows such
familiarity with the coast that it inevitably leads to
the conclusion that Smith must have made a careful
study of the topography of the shore; and there
can be no doubt that he made very many landings
aU along this coast. If this is true, what he says
concerning Indian traits must be taken as applying
generally, and not to any particular tribe or to those
of any special locahty. Captain Smith, writing of
the natives at that time, says "they were silly
savages," and "they were very kind, but in their
fury no less valiant, for upon a quarrel we had with
one of them, he only with three others, crossed the
harbor of Quonahassit ^Cohasset] to certain rocks
whereby we had to pass, and there let fly their
arrows for our shot." As Smith proceeded down
the bay "upon small occasion," as he writes, further
difficulty arose, some forty or fifty Indians attacking
the English. The exact place of this encounter is
not given, but it was either in the territory of the
Massachusetts or that of the Wampanoags. It is
recorded that on this occasion the English fired upon
the natives, killing one and wounding another with
a shot through the thigh; and yet we are told on no
less an authority than that of Smith himself, that in
an hour after the encoimter, they made up and were
friends again. It was on this voyage that Captain
Smith, sailing from the coast of New England for
Virginia, left one of his vessels, under conamand of
Captain Thomas Hunt, in Cape Cod Bay, to com-
plete the loading of his ship with fish, furs and oil.
Captain Hunt, relieved of the restraint, of his su-

INDIAN CHARACTER 33

perior, completed .his cargo, and then to his eternal
infamy, enticed twenty-seven natives on board, and
sailed away with them to Malaga where he sold
them into slavery. These twenty-seven were made
up of twenty Patuxets and seven Nausets, among
the former of whom was Squanto, about whom we
shall see more hereafter, as weU as of the fate of
the others.

The purpose of introducing these narratives briefly
in this place has been to throw such Hght as they
afford upon the character of the aborigines as they
were first seen by the bold explorers and traders
from Europe. I have quoted freely from the writ-
ings of the men who mingled with them after the
acts of violence to which I have called attention,
some of which occiu:red in the immediate vicinity
of the Indians whose kindly traits were so clearly
manifested, or in such close proximity to them that
knowledge of the outrages on the part of the Eng-
lish must have reached the men who stiU received
them with open arms, and appeared desirous of
maintaining friendly relations with them, and of
bartering their valuable furs for such trinkets and
baubles as appealed to their native simplicity. The
testimony of aU these men is to the same effect, and
establishes beyond peradventure the fact that they
were kind, coiuieoiis, hospitable and of gentle dis-
position. "Silly savages" they may have been, in
the sense that they knew not the value of what
they gave, measured by the standard of what their
received, unskilled in the arts of commerce, but not
the treacherous and blood-thirsty fiends that their

34 MASSASOIT

descendants have been painted; not entirely with-
out cause it must be admitted, but, what is the
cause?

It is undoubtedly true that training for war was
looked upon as the most important part of the edu-
cation of the Indian youth, and that wars between
the tribes were waged altogether too frequently and
without what would be considered justifiable cause
among civilized peoples; and no attempt has ever
been made to controvert the charge so often made
that unnecessary cruelties were indulged in by the
warring nations. I shall not attempt to justify
burning prisoners at the stake or the practice of re-
moving a portion of a war victim's scalp as a trophy
of the conflict; but will content myself by simply
calling attention to the fact that all human progress
has been by slow stages and that, as nations have
climbed the ladder of civilization round by roimd,
they have, with each successive upward movement,
shaken off some of the practices of the lower life in
which their fathers had indulged; but that this climb-
ing has been going on through countless ages, and
that the conduct of each succeeding generation has
been according to its light. Old customs die hard,
and it is much easier to walk in the trodden path
than to blaze new trails. The primitive red men
who occupied the land at the time of its discovery
by Europeans had made comparatively httle prog-
ress along the path of civilization, though they
were not the totally benighted children of evil that
some would have us beheve. They still lived, for
the most part, by himting and fishing, and the num-

INDIAN CHABACTER 35

ber of people who can subsist in this way upon any
given territory is necessarily limited by the natural
increase in the game and fish. They had no domes-
tic animals, and for meat depended upon the hunt.
They were, therefore, extremely zealous in guarding
the boundaries of their hunting groimds to protect
them against trepasses by the occupants of neigh-
boring localities; and any serious invasion of their
territory which resulted in the taking of the game
which meant life or death to them was a most seri-
ous offence, and one that was almost certain to re-
sult in war. And these wars were frequently waged
to the complete extermination or subjugation of one
of the contending parties. This was not necessarily
the result of any inherent cruelty or love of killing
one's enemies merely for the sake of killing, but for
the purpose of so reducing them as to make further
acts of violence either to the persons of the con-
querors or against their hunting grounds a matter
of the remotest possible chance; as well as to make
of them an example that would strike terror into the
hearts of other possible trespassers. They had not
made the progress that enabled them to discard, in
their treatment of their slain or captured enemies,
the practices they had learned from their fathers;
although there is no doubt that they had ameliorated
the conditions of warfare to some considerable ex-
tent since the beginning of their history. They
simply hved according to the Ught the Great Spirit
had vouchsafed them, and, if left to themselves,
might, by the long and tedious process of racial
evolution, have developed a civilization which would

36 MASSASOIT

compare favorably with that of the nations of the
old world. It has been said of them that they
never forgave an injury or forgot a benefit. Too
many of their critics, in considering their character,
forget the last part' of this saying. But, taking the
testimony of the men who mingled freely with them
as establishing the characteristics to which I have
alluded, how shall we account for the atrocities per-
petrated upon the whites by the sons of the men
whom Gosnold, Rofier and Smith describe? Per-
haps the first intimation of one great cause is to be
found in Governor Bradford's account of the enter-
tainment of Samoset at Plymouth on the sixteenth
and seventeenth of March, 1621. Samoset came
from Monhegan, the island from which Harlow
carried away two natives in 1611, and probably in
close proximity to the place of Captain Waymouth's
adventure a few years before. Monhegan was one
of the noted Indian fishing places and was frequently
resorted to by English visitors to these parts before
and after the times referred to. It was in fact the
site of one of the earUest English attempts at colo-
nization in New England. Samoset had mingled
with the English voyagers sufficiently to pick up a
few words of their language and "apparently had ac-
quired a taste for English beer, for Bradford tells us
that he asked for that beverage on the occasion of
his first entertainment at Plymouth, and was given
"strong water." Ah! There is one answer to the
degradation of the "silly savages." "Strong water."
The Indian's "fire water," first suppUed to them by
the whites, whether for the purpose of so benumb-

INDIAN CHARACTER 37

ing their senses that they would lose what little cun-
ning they had in trading or of creating an appetite
so insatiable that they would barter the fruits of the
hunt for an exhilarating draught of the beverage,
we can only conjecture, but we have seen so much
of its effects upon man that it is not difficult to
hazard an inference concerning the 'result. We have
seen men spend the price of their children's food to
obtain it; we have seen the mother under its in-
fluence desert her offspring; the son curse the
mother that gave him birth; and raise his hand
against the father who guided his first tottering
steps in infancy. We have seen it transform the
mild and kindly disposition into the fury of a
demon; and it is not difficult for us to picture the
change that would be wrought in the simple natives,
the "silly savages," by its insidious influence. Add
to this the treatment they received at the hands of
the whites, and the story is complete. Their hos-
pitahty and kindness repaid by violence, captivity
and slavery; their hunting grounds given over to
the axe and the plow ; their means of securing a Uve-
lihood constantly diminished by these encroach-
ments upon the lands they had inherited from their
fathers. What more is needed to efface whatever
progress a thousand years had seen, to arouse and
intensify all the old savage instincts that more care-
ful consideration and kindly treatment might have
obhterated? Instead of taking careful account of
the slmnbering demon within them and repaying
kindness with kindness, the whites hurled among
them the firebrand of robbery, causeless slaughter.

38 MASSASOIT

slavery and outrage; and, because the wrongs of a
hundred years coupled with the white man's rum
transformed the "sUly savage," kind, courteous
and hospitable, into the blood-thirsty red skin of the
period beginning with the death of Miantonomo and
terminating only with the complete subjugation of
the race on the western plains and in the movmtain
fastnesses of the Cordilleras, we are told that
"There is no good Indian but a dead Indian."

The red man has been called blood-thirsty, cruel,
vindictive, false and treacherous, these being pro-
novmced by some writers the predominating traits
of the character of the race. There is much in their
dealings with each other and with the whites to sub-
stantiate the charge; but before passing judgment
on his race, let us look at him in comparison with
the men against whom he stood for the defence of
hia native land; and then "let him that is without
sin first cast a stone." Let torture stand as the
test of cruelty; and, in torture, the Mohican allies
of the Colonists were the past masters among the
New England Indians. Take the most cruel case
recorded in history to establish the charge, the case
related by an early historian. Among the prisoners
captured by Major Talcott of Connecticut was a
young Narragansett, who had been taken by some
of the Mohicans; and they asked permission to put
him to death by torture. Hubbard tells us this
was exceedingly painful for the English, and then
proceeds to say that one of the reasons for granting
the permission was "that they might have an ocular
demonstration of the savage, barbarous cruelties of

INDIAN CHARACTEK 39

these heathen"; who, by the way, were theu: allies,
and whose cruelties they sanctioned, knowing them
to be the most cruel and savage of the natives.
The other reason for granting the permission was,
"lest by a denial they might disoblige their Indian
friends." Now read Hubbard's description of what
occurred*

"The Narragansett boasted that he had killed
nineteen Englishmen and had loaded his gun for
the twentieth, but not finding one, he had shot a
Mohegan rather than lose a good shot." His tor-
mentors "made a great circle and placed him in the
middle so that all eyes might at the same time be
pleased with the utmost revenge upon him. They
first cut one of his fingers round in the joint at the
trunck of the hand with a sharp knife and then
brake it off; then they cut off another and another
imtn they had dismembered one hand of all its
digits, the blood sometimes spurting out in streams
a yard from his hands, which barbarous unheard of
cruelties, the English were not able to bear, it forc-
ing tears from their eyes. Yet did not the sufferer
ever relent or show any sign of anguish, for being
asked by some of his tormentors how he liked
the war, this insensible and hard-hearted monster
answered he liked it very well and found it as
sweet as Englishmen did their sugar. In this frame
he continued until his executioners had dealt with
the toes of his feet as they had done with the fingers
of his hands, all the while making himself dance
aroxmd the circle and sing, until he wearied both
himself and them. At last they brake the bones of

40 MASSASOIT

his legs, for which he was forced to sat down, which
it is said he silently did, till they had knocked out
his brains."

For the highest refinement in cruelty commend
me to this, permitted, countenanced, encouraged
and witnessed by the whites, professed followers of
Him who walked in Galilee, teaching peace and
good will to men. Cruel on the part of the Mo-
hicans! Certainly! Hxmiane on the part of the
English? There was not a Wampanoag, a Narra-
gansett or a Nipmuck fighting imder Metacomet,
who would not have dashed into the circle and
despatched the sufferer with one blow of the toma-
hawk before the completion of this orgy of cruelty;
yet the Christian English saw it through. Search
the annals of that war as written by white men, and
you will search in vain for such an atrocity on the
part of their enemies.

Indiscriminate slaughter is evidence of blood-
thirstiness, and the entire history of the war is a
history of indiscriminate slaughter. It was a war
of extermination. Settlements were destroyed, men,
women and children sharing the same fate. At
Kingston, Rhode Island, during the swamp fight,
the whites set fire to every habitable hut or tepee
and burned hundreds of women and children.

When Awashonk, the squaw sachem of the Sa-
koimets, and her devoted band were surroimded,
the entire remnant of the tribe nmnbering ninety-
six were killed. When Tuspaquin, the "Black
Sachem" of Assawamsett, gave himself up on the
promise of a captaincy imder Church, the first thing

INDIAN CHARACTER 41

that was done was to confront him with a firing
squad to see if he was bullet proof, the pretense
being that this was the condition on which the
promise depended — a condition undoubtedly added
after he had surrendered, for no one ever accused
Tuspaquin of being so devoid of reason as to volun-
tarily give himself up on a promise with such a
string as that attached to it.

They were vindictive, in the words of the men
who exposed the head of Weetamo, the squaw sa-
chem of Pocasset, on a pole at Taimton; who
divided with the Mohicans, Niantics and Pequots
the "glory of destroying so great a prince" as
Canonchet, one shooting him, another cutting off
his head and quartering his body and another burn-
ing the quarters. They were vindictive according
to the testimony of the men who exposed the head
of PhiUp on a pole at Plymouth for more than
twenty years, after quartering his body and hanging
the quarters in the trees where he fell; and who sold
his wife and child (the grandson of Massasoit) into
slavery with thousands of other captives.

They were false and treacherous, say the men who
again and again promised amnesty to such as would
come in and give themselves up, and, when they
came in by hundreds, shot the leaders and sold the
others into slavery. Compare this with Awashonk's
conduct when Captain Church came to treat with
her and found himself surrounded by her warriors.
She had made no promises, and yet he came to con-
fer, and she would not allow him to be injured.
Search the white man's record of the entire war

42 MASSASOIT

and you will grow weary in searching before you
will find three instances of common decency on the
part of the whites to parallel the three I am about
to relate.

When the Indians approached Providence in
1676, Roger Wilhams went out alone to meet them
to try to dissuade them from their purpose of at-
tacking the town. He was seventy-seven years of
age. "Massachusetts," said he, "can raise thou-
sands of men at this moment, and if you kill them,
the king of England will supply their places as fast
as they fall." "Let them come," repUed the
savages, "we are ready. But as for you, Brother
Williams, you are a good man. You have been kind
to us many years. Not a hair of your head shall be
touched." And they kept their promise.

At the commencement of hostiUties at Swansea,
the Indians captured two yoimg sons of Sergeant
Hugh Cole and carried them to their camp. King
Philip, on hearing of this, ordered that no harm
should be done them, and sent a guard to ehield
them from danger till they should arrive home; for
as this "cruel, bloodthirsty, vindictive, false and
treacherous" savage said, "their father sometime
showed me kindness." King PhiUp, on the return
of the boys, sent word to Sergeant Cole that it
would be better to remove his family from Swansea,
as it might not be in his power to prevent the In-
dians from doing them injury. Cole took his ad-
vice and removed his family to the island of Rhode
Island; and they were not out of sight of their
house when it was fired by the Indians.

INDIAN CHABACTER 43

There was a man named James Brown living in
Swansea who was under the special protection of
King PhiUp, who ordered his people to do no harm
to him, because, as he said, his father (Massasoit)
in his life time, had charged him to show kindness
to Mr. Brown.

Find an instance in all the history of that war
which shows a Colonist manifesting any gratitude
for kindnesses if you can; point out a case where
one of them refrained from staining his hands with
the blood of Indian men, women and children, be-
cause a parent, fifteen years or more before, had re-
quested that kindness be shown; and you will show
a man competent to pass judgment on the Indians.

Place their records in parallel columns, and com-
pare them carefully, with nothing to indicate which
is the white man's record and which is the Indian's,
and you will have difficulty in determining, with
the chances strongly in favor of your making a mis-
take; consider them as they stand, knowing which
is the white man's and which the Indian's, and you
will find no difficulty in concluding that the terms
civilized Christian and savage pagan are reversed;
and that, as shown by their records, they should be
savage Christian and civilized pagan.

The Indian "never forgave an injury, nor forgot
a benefit." The latter part of this saying is proven
true by the three historical anecdotes I have just
related. The white man, of that period, never for-
gave an injury or remembered a benefit, except as
ground for demanding another. And these are the
men from whom we secure the information upon

44 MASSASOIT

which we are to pass judgment on the Indian char-
acter; or rather whose estimate of that character
we are asked to accept as final and conclusive.
Fortunately for the memory of the lost race, their
enemies have left enough behind in their records to
enable men who look at those records without passion
or prejudice to reverse the judgment.

Ill

THE ALGONQUINS

AMERICA, at the time of its discovery by-
Europeans, was peopled by a race whose origin
has ever remained a matter of conjecture; whence
they came and their relationship, if any, to other
peoples who then occupied or had occupied other
portions of the known world has remained one of
the unsolved problems of the race; nor is it of any
particular interest except as an abstract question of
ethnology whether they were the descendents of the
lost tribes of Israel or of the Hyksos, or Shepherd
Kings of Egypt, or of the Tyrians, each of which
had played its part in the drama of life and dis-
appeared from the stage. Whether they had in
some remote period crossed from the Eastern hemi-
sphere, or were indigenous to the soil are problems
that arouse the interest of the student of sociology,
because they raise the question whether the Indians
of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries had relapsed
into a state of at least semi-barbarism from the
civilization of Europe, Asia and Northern Africa as
developed centuries before, or had advanced by
slow stages from the more complete barbarism of
primitive men.

45

46 MASSASOIT

For the purpose of this work, we will take them
as they were, leaving the problem of their origin and
development to be discussed, or fiu-ther discussed,
by scientists in the hope that, as matter of abstract
knowledge, the wisdom of future ages may pene-
trate the veU. Taking them as the Europeans
found them, ethnologists teU us that the territory
now included within the bounds of the United
States, excluding Alaska and the islands of the
seas, was occupied by seven distinct families, three
of which, the Algonquin, Iroquois and Appalachian,
sometimes called the Mobihan, were east of the
Mississippi River.

As our interest at this time is limited to those
tribes located in Southern New England, I shall not
make further reference to the latter group which lay
south of the Carolinas, nor to the Iroquois except to
call attention to their activities, as those activities
affected the Algonquin tribes located along the
shores of the rivers, lakes and sea and in the forest
fastnesses of New England.

Of the Iroquois, or Hodenosaunee, as they called
themselves, the Five Nations of New York were
the dominant league, and eventually, being joined
by a sixth, th\is making them the six nations, as
they are frequently called, they overcame and ab-
sorbed the other tribes of their own race; and so in
later times the six nations and Iroquois became
ahnost identical in meaning. The original five
nations were the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas,
CajTigas and Senecas. The Tuscaroras had at
some earher time broken away and settled on the

THE ALGONQtriNB 47

coast and streams of the Carolinas, where they
maintained themselves against the hostile attacks
of Algonquins and Appalachians for generations, but
were eventually reimited with their ancient brethren.
The subjugated Iroquois tribes, the remnants of
which were absorbed by the five nations, were the
Hurons or Wyandots, Eries and Andastes. Whence
they came, to have thus settled themselves in the
limited territory they occupied, entirely surroimded
by Algonquins, is uncertain. They themselves have
three traditions concerning the matter, one of which
tells us that they came from the north, another
that they came from the west, and the third that
they sprang from the soil of New York State.

The totemic clan seems to have been more highly
developed among them than among the Algonquins,
the several tribes, independently of their tribal rela-
tions, being united in eight such clans, the members
of which were bound together by ties stronger than
those of tribal relationship, intermarriage between
members of the same clan being prohibited, though
allowed between members of the same tribe but of
different clans.

Francis Parkman, Jr., than whom no historian
has taken greater pains to secure absolute accmacy,
says of them: "They extended their conquests and
their depradations from Quebec to the Carolinas,
and from the Western prairies to the forests of
Maine. On the South they forced tribute from the
subjugated Delawares and pierced the mountain
fastnesses of the Cherokees with incessant forays.
On the North they uprooted the ancient settlement

48 MASSASOIT

of the Wyandots, on the West they exterminated
the Eries and the Andastes, and spread havoc and
dismay around the tribes of the lUinois; and on the
East the Indians of New England fled at the first
peal of the Mohawk War Cry. Their war parties
roamed over half America, and their name was a
terror from the Atlantic to the Mississippi; but
when we ask the numerical strength of the dreaded
confederacy, when we discover that, in the days of
their greatest triumphs, their united cantons could
not have mustered four thousand warriors, we
stand amazed at the folly and dissension which left
so vast a region the prey of a handful of bold ma-
rauders."

From this it is readily seen that they were a war-
like people, dreaded by the Algonquins everywhere,
by whom they seem to be known simply as Mo-
hawks, this being perhaps the dominant tribe in
the league. The period of their greatest triumph
appears to have been from 1649 to 1672, for it was
then that they subjugated their own kindred tribes,
the Hurons, Eries and Andastes, and overran the
Delawares.

One of the peculiar customs of the Iroquois is
worth a word in passing, and that is the rule of
descent through the female line; that is, a chief's
brother, sister or sister's children succeeded to the
chieftaincy rather than his own or his brother's
children, the reason being that by no inconstancy
on the part of the wife of a chief or of his mother or
sisters, was it possible that his brother, sister or
.sister's children should not be of his own family,

THE ALGONQUINS 49

even if only through the mother, while the children
of his wife or of his brother's wife might be no rela-
tion to him.

Such were the neighbors on the west of the In-
dians of New England in whom we are more partic-
ularly interested in connection with this work, but
whose history is such a mixtiu'e of wars among
themselves resulting from what appear to be suc-
cessive waves of migration, constantly driven down
to the New England coast through their inability to
plant their feet on the lands preempted by the Iro-
quois; and wars with the Mohawks themselves,
who crowded them so close on the west that no
sketch of the eastern Algonquins is quite complete
without considering briefly these neighbors who had
succeeded in some way in planting themselves upon
or within the Algonquin territory, where they re-
mained, a pestilential thorn in the flesh of the tribes
surrounding them.

Of the three eastern groups or famihes, the Algon-
quins were undoubtedly the most numerous and ex-
tended over the largest expanse of territory. Their
dominion, excepting the region south of Lakes Erie
and Ontario, and the peninsula between these lakes
and Lake Huron, which was occupied by the Iro-
quois, extended from Hudson's Bay to the Carolinas
and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and Lake
Winnipeg. To quote again from Parkman: "They
were Algonquins who greeted Jacques Cartier, as
his ships ascended the St. Lawrence. The first
British Colonists found savages of the same race
himting and fishing along the coasts and inlets of

50 MASSASOIT

Virginia, and it was the daughter of an Algonquin
chief who interceded with her father for the life of
the adventuresome Englishman. They were Algon-
quins, who, imder Sassacus the Pequot and Philip
of Mt. Hope, waged deadly war against the Puri-
tans of New England, who dwelt at Pennacook under
the rule of the great magician, Passaconaway, and
trembled before the evil spirits of the Crystal Hills;
and who sang Aves and told their beads in the forest
chapel of Father Easles, by the banks of the Kenne-
bec. They were Algonquins, who under the great
tree at Kensington, made the covenant of peace
with William Penn."

In the year 1000 when Thorvald with his viking
crew sought to establish a colony at Vinland, this
group of the American Indians was limited to much
narrower confines. The skroellings whom he en-
countered and at whose hands he met his fate, during
the five centuries that elapsed between his adven-
turous attempt and the next recorded visits of Euro-
peans, had been driven north by advancing waves of
Algonquin migration; and their descendants are
still occupying the frozen regions of the far north.
Esquimau, we call them, signifying in the Algonquin
tongue, "Eaters of Raw Fish." "What took place
during those five centuries is matter of conjecture;
but there are certain historical facts that make it
possible to draw inferences supported by reason.

The Leni Lenapee, in their own tongue, the Loups
of the French, the Delawares of the Enghsh, call
themselves the parent stock of the Algonquin group,
and their claim seems to be admitted by the other

THE ALGONQiriNS 51

branches. The name by which they designate
themselves means "original men," and in speaking
of or to the members of other tribes of the family,
they used the terms, Uttle brothers, children, grand-
children or nephews, and the other tribes referred
to them as father or grandfather.

So it is likely that the Algonquia group had its
origin, or at some remote time had established itself,
in the vicinity of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland
and eastern Pennsylvania, and as its original limits
became too narrow it spread out to the North, the
East, the South and the West in successive waves
of migration, each driving the preceding one fiuiiher
and further away from the home of its fathers.

Schoolcraft beheves that the Wolf Totem, or
Mohicans, were the first of the three clans of the
Lenapee to migrate, locating near Albany, whence
they were driven over the Hoosic and Pekonet ranges
into the valley of the Housatonic; and Gallatin
says this was the only one of the subdivisions to
leave their ancient hunting grounds. Neither ex-
presses any opinion whether they were forced east-
ward from the Hudson by other migratory bands of
Algonquins from the parent stock or by the Iro-
quois; and there appears to be nothing in the works
of early historians that furnishes any evidence,
gathered by men who have made a study of Indian
lore and traditions at their sources, whether the Iro-
quois were there before the Algonquins in such
strength that they could not be forced back, but
allowed the latter to sweep around them, or came
down from the west or north and met the advanc-

52 MASSASOIT

ing movement of the Algonquin migration and
drove a wedge in it which could not be dislodged.

Schoolcraft thinks it probable that the Pequots,
who, in the beginning of the seventeenth century
were in the ascendency in the Mohican federation,
were true Mohicans, and that the wars waged
between Sassacus the Pequot and Uncas the Mohi-
can were family rows for the sovereignty of the
federation. In speaking of the Pequot war in
which that tribe, with its six or seven himdred
fighting men, was wiped out he says, "By this de-
feat the Mohicans, a minor branch of the federa-
tion, under the government of Uncas gained the
ascendency in Connecticut." The whole matter of
tribal relations is so much in doubt that speculation
is almost useless, and yet it has a fascination that
makes it difficult to leave.

Major Daniel Gookin, who commanded the
Middlesex regiment in King Philip's war, writing in
1674, which would be just before that war broke
out, enumerates as the five principal "nations" of
New England, the "Pequots, including the Mohi-
cans, and occupjang the eastern part of the state of
Connecticut; the Narragansetts, occupying nearly
all of Rhode Island; the Pawkimnawkuts or Wam-
panoags, chiefly within the jurisdiction of Plymouth
Colony; the Massachusetts, in the bay of that
name and adjacent parts; and the Pawtuckets
north and east of the Massachusetts, including the
Pennacooks of New Hampshire, and probably all
the northeastern tribes as far as the Abenakis or
Tarrateens, as they seem to have been called by the

THE ALGONQUINS 63

New England Indians." The Nipmucks he men-
tions as living north of the Mohicans and west of the
Massachusetts, occupying the central part of that
state, and acknowledging to a certain extent, the
supremacy of the Massachusetts, the Narragansetts
or the Mohicans. Other writers also assert that
some of their tribes were tributary to the Wam-
panoags, and there is very good reason for believing
this to be true.

These federations comprise the tribes with which
the earliest colonists were brought directly in con-
tact, and, consequently in the pursuit of the sub-
ject in which we are particularly interested, further
mention of the Indians of New England wiU be
limited for the most part to them. In passing, how-
ever, a glance at some of the other tribes whom
Gookin groups as Abenakis or Tarrateens, will not
be out of place.

Other writers apply the term Abenaki to a much
narrower limit, confining it to the Micmacs of
Nova Scotia, called Souriquois by the French, the
Abenaki, now called the St. Francis, in Canada,
and the Passamaquoddies and Penobscots of Maine,
which four tribes or federations are said to have
called themselves not Abenaki, that being the name
of one of them, but "Wabanaid," an Algonquin
word meaning white or light, and believed to refer
to the fact that they were the first upon whom the
light of the Sim rested as he started in his daily
journey across the heavens.

The Micmacs, Passamaquoddies and Penobscots
appear to have been extremely rich in folklore.

54 MASSASOIT

myth and legend, an interesting collection of which
was made by Charles G. Leland ia 1884 under the
title of "Algonquin Legends of New England." As
one of the sources of his authority for these legends
and traditions, Leland tells us that the Wampum
Records of the Passamaquoddies were read for him
by "Sapiel Selmo, the only living Indian who had
the key to them."

Whatever subdivisions may have existed among
them, or whatever federations made up of various
closely related tribes; whatever potency there may
have been in their totemic bonds; whatever civil
wars may have rent them asunder, this fact we
know, that from the time of our earliest knowledge
of this part of the world after the Saga of Thorvald,
until their practical extermination, aU of New Eng-
land was peopled by tribes of this great Algonquin
family. To attempt an enumeration of them would
be useless; their name is legion; and most of them
are long since forgotten, except as they have left
their names indeUbly stamped upon the places they
once inhabited, the mountains from whose summits
their watch &es burned as they surveyed from the
lofty heights the country round, and the streams
upon whose silvery bosoms they paddled their
Ught canoes

A few of the more powerful tribes, or, in some
cases, federations, have made such an impress upon
the Ufe of the colonists, with whom the history of
America, as it is today, begins, that their names
and exploits have been handed down to us by the
writers of that history; and a remnant of what was

THE ALGONQUINS 65

once a proud and powerful people in some few cases
remains to remind their conquerors how futile were
the efforts of the children of nature to withstand the
onward sweep of a higher civiUzation than they had
attained. Among the latter are the Passamaquod-
dies, some five or six hundred of whom still occupy
a small portion of their ancient himting groimds in
eastern Maine; the Penobscots, who in the early
part of the seventeenth century occupied the beau-
tiful valley of the river and the shores of the bay
from which time has not been able to efface their
name, and in which river two islands still furnish a
home for the five or six hundred remaining members
of the tribe; and the Gay Heads, the descendants of
the tribe that under the Sachem Epenow, in the
Pilgrims' time occupied Capawack or Nope, now
Martha's Vineyard, together with a few scattering
members of other tribes distributed throughout
Massachusetts; to say nothing of the few hundred
descendants of the Mohicans who fought under Un-
cas, and a like nimiber in whose veins flows the
blood of the warriors who followed the three great
Narragansett Chiefs, Canonicus, Miantonomo and
Canonchet.

Many of these have by intermarriage almost lost
their identity, and even those who stiU cling to the
lands allotted to them by the governments, are for
the most part so crossed with other races that they
would not, in most instances, be recognized as the
descendants of the men our fathers found here three
hundred years ago.

The Passamaquoddies and Penobscots are as

56 MASSASOIT

much French as Indian, and nearly all the natives
of Massachusetts have mingled the blood of the
Indian with that of the African, Schoolcraft say-
ing in 1850 that there were not more than seven or
eight full blooded Indians among the eight hundred
and forty-seven in the state. Occasionally one meets
a family who would never be suspected of being
anything but the purest whites, but who boast the
blood of the children of the forest.

Among the tribes that have left their names in-
deUbly stamped upon the localities in which they
hved, but were not so closely connected with the
earliest settlements as to have been active partici-
pants in the scenes enacted there, and consequently
have not received the particular attention of his-
torians, and have left no sufficient surviving rem-
nant of their former strength to perpetuate their
memory through their posterity, one notes with in-
terest the Keimebecs, whose lordly river still flows
down to the sea through their ancient hunting
grounds with the same calm and peaceful movement
in the seasons of low water, and the same torrential
rush when the sun in his northward travels unfetters
its thousand feeding brooks and springs, as in the
days when the children of the forest dipped their
dusky bodies in its cooUng waters; the Norridge-
wocks, who dwelt farther back towards the head-
waters of the same river, and whose name will not
be forgotten as long as the people of Norridgewock,
Maine, tell their children that their town derives its
name from the Indians whose children listened to
the folklore and songs of their people at their

THE ALGONQXJINS 57

mothers' knees on this same spot three centuries
ago; the Androscoggins who dipped their paddles
noiselessly into the waters of the noble river that
now turns the wheels of hundreds of mills, but will
not allow the name of its first navigators to be sunk
in obhvion; the Piscataquas who dwelt about the
place where now a government navy yard gives
shelter to men of war beside which the frail bark
canoes of the natives are as the fingerlings of the
shore beside the leviathans of the deep, and who
have left their name upon the river that "widens to
meet the sea" at Portsmouth; and the Pemaquids,
who little dreamed when they heaped the shells of
clams and other edible mollusks iu huge piles along
the shore, that they were erecting a monvunent to
themselves, to be gazed at in wonder by generations
of their destroyers; and whose name still clings to
the places they once roamed at will.

Other powerful federations there were whose
friendship or hostility were matters of life or death
to hundreds, aye, even thousands of the early ad-
venturers who attempted to establish upon these
shores homes for themselves and their posterity,
adventtners only in the sense that they ventured
everjiihing, even life itself, upon a throw of the
dice of fate. Drake speaks of five great Sachem-
ries, the Pequots, Narragansetts, Wampanoags,
Massachusetts, and Pawtuckets, and he speaks of
them as though they were the only five federations
in New England worthy the dignity of that desig-
nation, following Gookin iu this respect; but it may
be doubted whether some of these ever held in com-

68 MASSASOIT

plete subordination many of the tribes which were
at times closely associated with them. An illus-
tration of this is seen in the Connecticut River In-
dians of various tribal designations, the Mohicans
and Niantics who were among the deadly enemies
of the Pequots, by whom they were conquered and
reduced to such a state of subjugation that they
may perhaps have been fairly coxmted as of the Pe-
quot nation in the early colonial days.

The Tarratines. — Another interesting group
whose identity is not clearly established, is that
known in New England history as Tarratines, Tar-
rateens or Tarrentines, as the name is variously
spelled. Who they were or whence they came is one
of history's imsolved problems. That they were
able to muster powerful raiding parties is clearly
shown by the success with which they carried out
their plundering expeditions against the tribes of
Massachusetts and Wampanoags before the pesti-
lence had decimated these two federations. That
they were raiders and plunderers is clearly estab-
lished by the testimony of contemporary writers,
part of whose information was gleaned from the
sufferers from their expeditions. The great inva-
sion of Massachusetts and Wampanoag territories
sometime between 1615 and 1617 is accepted as a
historical fact; Bradford speaks of the Massachu-
setts being in fear of them in September, 1621, that
being the season of their visitations to "reap where
they have not sowed"; and Drake tells of an attack
made by them upon the Indians at Agawam (Ips-
wich) in August, 1631, in which they killed seven.

THE ALGONQtriNS 59

In the Planters' Plea they are spoken of as a
predatory tribe living fifty or sixty leagues to the
northeast (of Massachusetts Bay); and it is there
said that they raised no corn on account of the cli-
mate, but came down and reaped the Massachusetts
Indians' harvest. Drake speaks of them as lying
east of the Pawtuckets, and also as lying east of
the Piscataqua River, which would place them
almost anywhere in Maine, as he does not attempt
to give their precise limits. Albert Gallatin in his
Archaeologia Americana, in which he calls the five
federations of Southern New England by the gen-
eral designation New England Indians, says the
dividing line between these latter and the Abenaki
was somewhere between the Piscataqua and the
Kennebec, and cites Governor Sullivan as authority
for placing it at the Saco River. He also calls at-
tention to what he calls a confirmation of this by
French writers who mention a tribe which they
call the Sakokies, adjacent to the Abenaki and
the New England Indians, and which was originally
in aUiance with the Iroquois, but were converted by
the Jesuits and withdrew into Canada. Other
writers locate the Tarratines definitely east of the
Penobscot, which would bring them between the
Passamaquoddies and the Penobscots imless they
were, indeed, roving members of one or both of these
tribes. Gallatin makes no other mention of them
as a tribe than to quote from Gookin, who speaks of
the "Abenakis or Tarrateens, as they are called by
the New England Indians." The two names are
used by Gookin to designate all the Indians east of

60 MASSASOIT

the Pawtuckets, and Schoolcraft accepts thia classi-
fication. Gallatin further says: "The tribes of
Nova Scotia in the Bay of Fundy were first called
by the French Souriquois. They are now known
as Micmacs. The French adopted the names given
by the Souriquois to the neighboring tribes. The
Etchemins, stretching from the Passamaquoddy
Bay to St. John's Island and west of the Kennebec
River as far as Cape Cod, they called the Almou-
chiquois."

Etchemins means canoe men, and may well have
been apphed to the bold canoe men of all the shore
tribes who navigated the deep waters of the sea,
and Almouchiquois would then mean the same. If
we attempt to give it any other meaning we are
forced to the conclusion that the French or the Mic-
macs, whichever first defined their limits as above,
knew very Kttle about the people to the southwest,
or that every one else is very much mistaken. Con-
tinuing Gallatin says: "The Indians at the mouth
of the Kennebec planted nothing according to
Champlain, but those further inland or up the river
planted maize. These inland tribes were the Abe-
nakis, consisting of several tribes, the principal of
which were the Penobscots, the Norridgewocks and
the Ameriscoggins, and it is not improbable that the
Indians at the mouth of both rivers were con-
founded by Champlain with the Etchemins belong-
ing to the same nation. The Etchemins comprise
the Passamaquoddies in the United States and the
St. John's in New Bnmswick." In another para-
graph he says that Champlain found no cultivation

THK ALGONQUINS 61

of the soil from Passamaquoddy Bay to the Kenne-
bec River.

The French writers' reference to a tribe between
the Abenaki and the New England Indians is inter-
esting from two points. They were in alliance with
the Iroquois, which leads to the inquiry whether
they may not have been a branch of that group,
sprung from some of their war parties who overcame
the tribe occupying the location where the French
found them, slaughtered the warriors, and took the
women to their own wigwams, and settled down
upon the conquered territory. Were they the Tar-
ratines? The warlike propensity of the Iroquois
manifests itself in the Tarratine raids; but against
this theory is the fact that the Iroquois were ad-
vanced agriculturalists, and the "Tarratines raised
no corn "; and the further fact that the region where
nothing was planted was at the mouth of the Ken-
nebec and east of it, while this mysterious tribe,
which appears to have escaped the notice of the
English writers, lived west of that river. I do not
advance any opinion, but simply call attention to
this matter as an interesting subject for speculation.

If we attempt to reconcile all the apparently con-
flicting statements concerning these people, we are
forced to the conclusion that the Etchemins or Al-
mouchiquois were the dwellers along the coast,
experts in handling their frail barks, daring navi-
gators of various tribes, but not a distinct tribe;
that Abenaki was a term applied generally to a large
group of tribes covering Maine, New Bnmswick
and Nova Scotia, the name undoubtedly being de-

62 MASSASOIT

rived from the same root as "Wabanaki" which as
already noted means light; that Tarratine was not
the name of any tribe but a term apphed to the raid-
ing parties which visited the Massachusetts coast;
and if the statement in the Planter's Plea that they
planted no corn is correct, and Champlain's definite
location of the people who planted nothing is re-
liable, then the Tarratines were Abenaki, hving
east of the Kennebec River or at its mouth; they
were Etchemins, or bold navigators; they planted
nothing, not as said in the Planter's Plea "on ac-
count of the climate," for the tribes "farther inland
cultivated maize"; but because they preferred to
secure their supply of corn by reaping their neigh-
bors' harvest.

The Pennacooks. — Gookin, Drake and School-
craft speak of the federation, sometimes called Pen-
nacooks, as Pawtuckets, but in his last speech,
Passaconaway, their sachem, uses the term Penna-
cooks in such a way as to indicate that this was the
name apphed to all his people. It may, however,
be that Passaconaway or some of his predecessors,
was originally the sachem of the Pennacooks, and
that this was the dominant tribe in the Pawtucket
federation, just as appears to have been the situa-
tion with relation to the Pokanokets and the Wam-
panoags. As we shall not have occasion again to
refer particularly to the Pennacooks, a word about
its aged sachem, Passaconaway, and his son and
successor, Wonolancet, may well be written here in
passing. Passaconaway resided at Pawtucket Falls
(Lowell), had an alliance with the Penobscots, and

THE ALGONQUINS 63

was a friend of Eliot, the celebrated preacher among
the Indians, but did not appear to be particulary
interested in the religion he preached until 1648.
It appears that in 1642, the settlers, becoming dis-
trustful of Passaconaway in consequence of rumors
that he was stirring up discord among the Indians,
sent men to arrest him and his son Wonolancet.
Passaconaway succeeded in evading them through
the intervention of a storm that raged with con-
siderable violence, but they took Wonolancet and
led him away with a rope around his neck, for by
such acts they sought to inspire terror in the hearts
of the natives rather than, by acts of consideration,
to inspire confidence. Wonolancet escaped but was
retaken and brought to Boston. This act made
Passaconaway suspicious of the English and of their
motives, and imdoubtedly served to widen the
breach between the two races that had abeady re-
sulted from some arbitrary acts on the part of the
English, and which finally culminated in King
Philip's war; and it is given by some early writers
as a reason for Passaconaway's refusal to see Eliot
when he made a visit to the Falls in the fishing
season of 1647, The following year, however, he
heard him preach, and publicly annoimced his behef
in the God of the English.

In 1660 he turned over the active direction of the
affairs of his tribe to Wonolancet, his son, and soon
after died, it is said at the age of one himdred and
twenty years. Wonolancet wielded the sceptre until
1667 and maintained friendly relations with the
whites during aU that time. In 1660, probably on

64 MASSASOIT

the occasion of his surrendering the tomahawk of
authority to Wonolancet, a great feast was given at
Pawtucket Falls in his honor, which was attended
not only by his own people but by chiefs and war-
riors from other tribes. On this occasion, he de-
livered his farewell address as reported by early
writers as follows:

PASSACONAWAY'S SPEECH

" Hearken to the words of your father ! I
am an old oak that has withstood the
storms of more than a hundred winters.
Leaves and branches have been stripped
from me by the winds. My eyes are dim;
my limbs totter; I must soon fall. When
yoimg, no one could bury the hatchet in the
sapling before me. My arrows could pierce
the deer at a himdred rods. No wigwam
had so many fvu-s, no pole had so many
scalplocks as Passaconaway's. Then I de-
Ughted in war. The whoop of the Penna-
cooks was heard on the Mohawk, and no
voice as loud as Passaconaway's. The
scalps upon the pole in my wigwam told
the story of Mohawk suffering. The Eng-
lish came; they seized the lands; they fol-
lowed upon my footpaths. I made war
upon them but they fought with fire and
thunder. My young men were swept down
before me when no one was near them. I
tried sorcery against them but they still in-

THE ALGONQUINS 65

creased, and prevailed over me and mine; I
gave place to them and retired to my beau-
tiful island, Naticook. I, who can take the
rattlesnake in my pahn as I would a worm
without harm — I, that have had com-
munication with the Great Spirit, dream-
ing and awake — I am powerless before
the pale faces. These meadows they shall
turn with the plow; these forests shall fall
by the axe; the pale faces shall live upon
your hunting grounds and make their vil-
lages upon yoiir fishing places. The Great
Spirit says this and it must be so. We are
few and powerless before them. We must
bend before the storm. Peace with the
white men is the command of the Great
Spirit and the wish — the last wish — of
Passaconaway."

I have already referred to the Leni Lenapee as
the parent stock of the Algonquins; and to the fact
of their subjugation by the Five Nations at some
time between 1649 and 1672; but as I did not call
attention to the depth of their degradation, this chap-
ter would hardly be complete without fiuthur ref-
erence to it. So complete was their defeat and
submission to their conquerors, that they were com-
pelled to forego the use of arms and to assume the
name of "women." So when Penn made his fa-
mous treaty with them in 1682, he treated with
"women" and not with warriors.

When the Five Nations afterwards allotted land

66 MASSASOIT

to them, and they were crowded by the encroach-
ments of settlers, they moved even further west
than they were ordered, and espoused the cause of
the French in their wars with the Enghsh.

At the outbreak of the revolution they declared
their independence of their conquerors, and a few
years later at a public council, the Five Nations con-
fessed that the Lenapee were no longer women but
men; and thus the stock that had peopled nearly
all the north-eastern part of the continent came
into its own again. At the time of which we write
they had not been reduced to a state of vassalage,
but were still the grandfather of the other tribes of
the Algonquin family and lived in their ancient
hunting grounds, a free people, just as their de-
scendants lived in all the vast territory the hmits
of which I have already outlined.

Here they and their children of the other tribes
fished the streams whose banks are now hned with
the cities of the strangers from across the great
waters whom they welcomed with open arms, and
who repaid their hospitahty by waging upon them
a perpetual war of extermination. Here they hunted
the primeval forests, which the settlers' axe has laid
low that the giant trees might contribute to the re-
quirements of a people to whom the Indian methods
of living were but a tradition of the past. Here,
too, their war whoops resounded as they waged
their internecine war upon each other; and here,
when the tomahawk had been buried, they smoked
the pipe of peace, and its smoke ascending wafted
their prayers to the Great Spirit, whose existence

THE ALGONQUINS 67

revealed itself to them in every object that came
withia range of their observation.

The Wampanoags, Narragansetts, Pequots and
Mohicans were so closely associated with the vari-
ous affairs growing out of the first contact of the
whites with Massasoit and his Wampanoags that I
shall consider them further in subsequent chapters,
which will also contain occasional reference to the
Massachusetts; and, as the individuahty of the sa-
chems was a potent factor in the attitude of their
tribes, due attention will be given to the prominent
leaders of their people.

IV

THE WAMPANOAGS

DECEMBER 7, 1620 (December 17, new style)
found the Mayflower lying inside of Cape
Cod. This locality, and particularly "the place
that on Captain John Smith's map is called PU-
moth," had been highly recommended to them as a
suitable location for the establishment of a perma-
nent settlement. They had been on shipboard for
a long time, the life was becoming irksome, and
they were desirous of effecting a landing before the
Sabbath which was approaching, and on which, in
their reUgious zeal, there could be no question of
work. So they sent their shallop ashore in search
of a suitable spot. The shallop made a landing at
Nauset, now Eastham, a place which derived its
name from that of the tribe of Indians located there,
which we find mentioned frequently m the writings
of the early chroniclers. The boat's crew spent the
night there, and in the early morning they were
alarmed by the sentry whom they had posted, and
who announced the presence of Indians. This
alarm was followed by a demonstration against the
camp. The natives were soon driven off by the
discharge of the muskets of the English, who then
returned to their ship. After this, their first en-
68

THE WAMPANOAGS 69

counter with the aboriginal inhabitants of the land,
they were not further annoyed by them until the
following February, when they began to show them-
selves from time to time about the settlement at
Plymouth, always holding themselves aloof, how-
ever, until the sixteenth of March, when Samoset
made his memorable visit with the details of which
every reader of American history is familiar.

Colonel Robert B. Caverly in his account of the
early Indian wars speaks of Aspinet, who was sa-
chem of Nauset at that time, as a Mohandsick.
The people of this name were located on Long
Island and the question naturally arises, how came
this detached tribe of Mohandsicks, whose war
strength ia 1621 was said to be one hundred warriors,
to be so separated from the rest of their kindred?
The Mohandsicks, Hke the Manhattans of lower
New York, probably were Mohicans, or at least
more closely related to the latter than to any other
of the numerous branches of the Algonquin family;
and, while it does not appear that there had been
any hostility between the Mohicans and the Wam-
panoags, perhaps because of the fact that their
hunting grounds were separated by those of the
Narragansetts, it seems rather out of the ordinary
course that we would expect migrations to take for
this tribe to separate itself from the remainder of
its people and isolate itself down on the end of
Cape Cod in Wampanoag territory. There would
be but two ways for them to have reached that
point, one by water, which with their limited faciU-
ties for making such long journeys seems imprac-

70 MASSASOIT

ticable, though not impossible, and the other by-
crossing Narragansett and Wampanoag territory,
which could be done only if they were on friendly
terms; unless, indeed, they were a detached body of
Mohandsicks, who had settled on the mainland very
early in the period of migration and had been swept
down to the extreme end of the Cape by succeeding
waves, and had there been able to maintain them-
selves, or had been allowed to remain immolested.

None of these theories is impossible, as we have
seen the Tuscaroras separating themselves from the
other nations of the Iroquois and, either crossing
leagues of Algonquin territory, or following the
coast in their frail canoes, settling on the coast of
the Carolinas.

Wbatever may have been the most intimate
racial connection of the Nausets, there can be no
doubt that at the time of which I am writing, they
were subjects of the Great Sachem of the Wampa-
noags, although, as we shall see hereafter, they did
not hesitate at times to engage in conspiracies
against the whites without the sanction of their
great chief. It may be that other tribes in the
eastern part of the Wampanoag domain, such as the
Manomets, Monamoyicks, Paomets, Sawkattuckets,
Matakes, Nobsquossets, and Sokones, and perhaps
the Nantuckets and the Capawacks, were more
closely related to the Nausets than to the western
tribes of the Wampanoag federation, which seem to
have centered about the Pokanokets. They were
all Algonquins, and probably, originally all of the
Totem of the Wolf, the various subdivisions result-

THE WAMPANOAGS 71

ing from the spreading out process by which a group
became separated from the parent stock, thus form-
ing a nation within the family, and eventually ac-
quiring a distinct dialect; and no doubt, in many
instances, absorbing tribes that had originally
formed a part of some other wave of migration, and
so belonged to some other nation.

In any event, the Nausets, with all the other
tribes on the cape and the islands, were, to all in-
tents and purposes, Wampanoags at the time of
their demonstration against the crew of the shallop
on December 8, 1620; and so it was the Wampa-
noags who first greeted the Pilgrims, though the
greeting was far from being a welcome, the actual
welcome being extended nearly three months later
by a sagamore of Monhigan "two days' sail with a
strong wind" to the northeast.

If our conclusion as to the reasonable inferences
to be drawn from the writings of early historians is
correct, this would place him in the group desig-
nated by Gookin, Drake, and Schoolcraft as Abe-
naki.

Reference has already been made in general terms
to the location of the Wampanoags as described by
Gookin and Drake, but some doubt exists as to the
exact extent of their territory. All are agreed that
they held sway from the Islands and Cape Cod to
Narragansett Bay and Providence River, and from
the Atlantic Ocean north to the southern boimdaiy
of the Massachusetts, who as we have seen Uved
aroimd the bay that bears their name. Just where
that boimdary ran is hot clear, but it is certain that

72 MASSASOIT

the counties of Nantucket, Dukes, Barnstable, Ply-
mouth, Bristol, and a considerable part of Norfolk,
in Massachusetts, together with all of Bristol and
Newport counties and the town of East Providence
in Rhode Island have been carved out of the ancient
hunting grounds of the Wampanoags.

Colonel Caverly, who has written a very interest-
ing account of the early Indian wars in New Eng-
land, seems to extend the territory or dominion of
the Wampanoags much further than any other
writer with whose works I am familiar, and further,
I fear, than there is any well grounded warrant for,
as he speaks of the Massachusetts as being of that
federation, as though the fact were established be-
yond peradventure, and at least suggests that
Massasoit's rule extended to and covered the Pen-
nacooks, speaking of Passaconaway as holding sway
"under, from and after Massasoit, from the Penob-
scot to the Merrimack." As we have already seen,
Gookin, who wrote only fifty-three years after the
landing of the Pilgrims, speaks of the Massachusetts
and the Pawtuckets or Pennacooks as independent
federations, and it is probable that their relations
with the Wampanoags were nothing more than
those of allies.

Great as is the uncertainty concerning the exact
limits of their territory, their numerical strength at
the time of the landing of the Pilgrims is wrapped
in even greater obscurity and doubt. Two recent
events, however, had reduced them to a mere ves-
tige of their former power. The first of these was
a raid of the Tarratines, the conflicting opinions of

THE "WAMPANOAGS 73

whose identity and location I have attempted to
reconcile in part in the preceding chapter.

The exact location of the Tarratines is of interest
at this time only as it directs our attention to the
distances which they traveled in making their raids
upon the Massachusetts coast; one hundred and
fifty to one hundred and eighty miles by water, and
much further by land. If the raids were made by
water, as seems probable, it certainly shows the
Tarratines to have been daring navigators, when
one considers the character of their craft, as far as
known. It is recorded by men who received their
information at first hand that they swept down on
the coast tribes of eastern Massachusetts in 1615 or
1616 and inflicted severe losses upon them. These
tribes were of the Massachusetts and Wampanoags,
and while the extent of the ravages of the invaders
is not certainly known, there is no doubt that this
raid considerably weakened these two federations,
as it is claimed by some that they swept clear across
the Wampanoag coimtry and attacked the Narra^
gansetts. This method of seeming a Uvelihood by
wresting from their neighbors the fruits of their toil
rather than by relying exclusively upon their own
systematic efforts to sustain themselves by the pur-
suit of the usual vocations of their kind, hunting,
fishing and the crude cultivation of the soil, appears
to have been characteristic of them, for Bradford
records the fact that on September 18, 1621, the
Plymouth settlers sent out their shallop with ten
men, and Squanto as guide to trade with the
Massachusetts, and to explore the bay; that they

74 MASSASOIT

accomplished their purpose and "found kind en-
tertainment. The people were much afraid of the
Tarrentines, a people to the eastward which used
to come in harvest time and take away their corne,
and many times kill their persons."

The second, and by far more disastrous visitation
that ravaged the land of the Wampanoags, was a
devastating pestilence which followed close on the
heels of the Tarratine raid, and worked such havoc
among the natives, who had no skill to combat it,
that the early visitors from Plymouth to Massasoit's
town Sowams, speak of seeing their bones in large
numbers scattered along the route, the living not
being able to bury the dead. The Patuxet tribe
which had occupied the territory around Plymouth,
was almost entirely wiped out by this plague, the
exact character of which has never been definitely
determined. While there is no doubt that the Wam-
panoags were reduced by these two agencies to a
mere shadow of their former strength and power,
there is so much conflict between the writers of old
times concerning their numbers at the time of the
landtag of the PQgrims that we are left almost en-
tirely to conjecture concerning the matter. Certain
facts, however, have been handed down upon such
rehable authority, that perhaps a careful considera-
tion of those indisputable facts will justify us in
making our own estimate; and this leads us to an
examination of the extreme claims. I am unable to
find that any contemporary writers have left any
word from which we would be justified in assuming
that anything like an accurate estimate of their

THE WAMPANOAGS 75

numbers was ever made or attempted by the early
colonists; so perhaps we may fairly conclude that
the truth of the matter Ues somewhere between the
two extremes. Some authors, who put out their
works with the intent to convey exact information
to their readers, tell us that this federation num-
bered not more than three hundred in 1620, having
been reduced to this state from a former strength
variously estimated at anywhere from eighteen
thousand to thirty thousand, their five thousand
warriors mentioned by some, leaning towards the
higher rather than the lower of these two figures.
This three hundred may be construed in so many
ways that before rejecting it as an absurdity, it may
be well to consider to what the number may have
referred. If by it is meant the entire numerical
strength of the federation, it seems to be capable
of complete refutation, and, on the other hand, if
it is limited to the warriors rather than the entire
tribal membership, it is open to grave doubt. An-
other view is that it may have been intended to be
confined to the village where their Great Sachem
maintained his lodge, or to the three villages between
which he seems to have divided a large part of his
time. Before proceeding to a more general discus-
sion of the numerical strength of the tribe or federa-
tion, let us look for a moment at these three villages.
We find Massasoit sometimes spoken of as the Sa-
chem of the Pokanokets. Pokanoket is or was the
geographical name of all that territory now in-
cluded in the towns of Bristol, Warren, Barrington
and East Providence, Rhode Island, and parts of

76 MASSASOIT

Swansea, Rehoboth and Seekonk, Massachusetts.
The Great Sachem seems to have had a more inti-
mate connection with this portion of his domain
than with other parts; and while the tribes in other
locaUties had their sub-sachems or sagamores, who
acknowledged some sort of allegiance to the Great
Chief, there is nothing from which we would be
justified in inferring that the Pokanokets were imder
the direction or control of any of these secondary-
chiefs; and it may well be that the Great Sachem
of the Wampanoags either in Massasoit's early days,
or in the time of some of his predecessors, was
simply the sachem of the Pokanokets, with htmting
grounds limited to the territory already defined;
and that at some time a federation of related,
neighboring and conquered tribes was formed under
the name Wampanoag, and that he retained the
government of his original tribe, and governed the
other tribes through their sachems. It would be
extremely interesting reading for us of later genera-
tions if some savant of the early colonial period
could have sufficiently secured the confidence of the
contemporary mystery men of the aborigines to
have learned from them the secrets which their
predecessors "talked into the sacred wampum rec-
ords" and thus handed down from father to son.
From such sources much of historic value might
have been learned for transmission to posterity,
much more than the world knows of Indian legend
and tradition. But the men who came here came
not as seekers after knowledge concerning the char-
acter of the coimtry, its geological formations, its

THE WAMPANOAGS 77

plants, its animals, or its primitive human deni-
zens, and most of the information that has been
gleaned along the latter lines, has come from the
legends and traditions passed along by the natives
to the whites at later dates after the tribes into
whose past we endeavor to penetrate through the
dark clouds of obscurity and doubt had been almost
or quite exterminated. So while the plants and
flowers, the rocks and the wild animals have re-
mained to tell their own story, unfortunately, we
are left in darkness concerning many of the things
we fain would know about the primitive race that
has been swept away by the invaders. We are left
largely to conjecture; and can only draw what
seem to us to be reasonable inferences from known
facts. In the Pokanoket coimtry, there were three
principal villages all of which are sometimes men-
tioned as Massasoit's dwelling places, and in and
about which he undoubtedly spent more of his time
than in other parts of his domain, although he un-
questionably resorted to the other portions for
himting and fishing and for conferences with his sub-
sachems. These three villages were Sowams, prob-
ably where Warren now stands, although some place
it farther west, and their contention seems to be
supported by an ancient map; but Gen. Guy Fes-
senden and Virginia Baker have made out such a
strong case for the Warren site that I do not pro-
pose to enter into any further discussion of the
question; Montaup, corrupted by the English into
Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island; and Kicke-
muit on the river of the same name, and within the

78 MASSASOIT

limits of the present town of Swansea, Massachu-
setts.

Let us now return to a further consideration of
the numerical strength of the Wampanoags in the
early part of the seventeenth century; and, having
referred briefly to what we may properly consider
the minimum estimate, we will pass to the other
extreme, and then by examining all the known facts,
see what appears to be the reasonable conclusion to
be drawn from those facts, not for the purpose of
ascertaining an accurate estimate, which could be
of no particular benefit, but for the pm-pose of
properly appraising the value of the friendship of
Massasoit to the early settlers; for it must be ap-
parent that that value would be determined in part
by his strength and standing among the various
tribes. We may well begin this line of inquiry by
taking the testimony of Captain Thomas Dermer,
master of a vessel saihng here for trade and explo-
ration. Captain Dermer was on the New England
coast in 1619, probably not for the first time. It
was with him that Squanto returned to his native
land after spending some years in England. In
1619, with Squanto as interpreter, he traveled in-
land to Nemasket, now Middleboro, Massachusetts,
where he held an interview with two "Kings of
Pokanoket" of which we shall see more hereafter.
In a letter to a friend dated June 20, 1620, Dermer
wrote that "Squanto was carried away from a place
that on Captain John Smith's map is called Pli-
moth," and that "the Pocanawits" (Pokanokets)
"which live to the west of Plimoth bear an in-

THE WAMPANOAGS 79

veterate malice to the English, and are of more
strength than all the savages from thence to the
Penobscote." Dermer must have secured this
knowledge from some of the natives, and it may
not be amiss to inquire into the possible sources of
his information and the time. To begin with the
latter, I call particular attention to the date of the
letter and to Dermer's voyage in 1619 and his prob-
able earlier trips to the New World. He had un-
doubtedly come in contact with the various tribes
along the coast from whom he may have learned
about the Pokanokets; and he brought Squanto
with ^im in 1619 or on an earUer expedition.
Squanto spoke English and was a member of one
of the small tribes of the Wampanoag federation, so
it is extremely probable that Dermer's information
came from him. Squanto was carried away in 1614
before the pestilence had decimated the tribes of
eastern Massachusetts, and if the information was
secured from this source, it may have referred to con-
ditions as Squanto knew them before he left these
parts. This is especially likely to have been the
case if Squanto first came over with Dermer in
1619 and had no knowledge of the ravages of the
plague. On the other hand, if Dermer remained
long in this vicinity at the time of his visit to Ne-
masket, he must have learned of these ravages, and
the combined strength of all the tribes of the Wam-
panoags may then have been as great as he says in
his letter of June 20, 1620. There is one important
fact that lends color to this theory, and that is
that the voyage inland to Nemasket was from

80 MASSASOIT

Plymouth, the Patuxet of Squanto, and he, finding
his own tribe wiped out, would undoubtedly have
ascertained the cause on arriving at Nemasket, even
if he had met no one to give him the information
before.

However that may have been, we cannot doubt
the testimony of Bradford who writes that on
March 16, 1621, Samoset, after welcoming the Eng-
Ush to Patuxet, and being entertained by them over
night, told them of a Great Sachem, "Massasoyt,"
who had sixty warriors under him, and left them
saying he would bring him to them. On March 22,
the Great Chief appeared with the exact number
mentioned by Samoset.

In the June following, when Wiaslow and Hop-
kins visited him at Sowams for the purpose of re-
newing and strengthening the ties of friendship
between him and the colonists and to secure corn
for planting, Massasoit, speaking to an assembly of
his own people, said, "Am not I Massasoit com-
mander of the country roimd you? Is not such a
town mine, and such a town, and will you not bring
your skins to the English?" In this way naming
more than thirty villages, according to Winslow.

We have already seen that on December 8, 1620,
the Nausets attacked the crew of the Mayflower's
shallop, and, while the numbers of the attacking
party are not mentioned, there can be no doubt,
from Bradford's description, that they were in suffi-
cient force to make a considerable demonstration
and cause great alarm and uneasiness, and Samoset
is said to have told the English that Aspinet had one

THE •WAMPANOAGS 81

htindred warriors. In addition to the inhabitants of
the Pokanoket country and the Nausets, both of
which we have briefly discussed, there is abundant
evidence that there were tribes of no mean propor-
tions at Capawack (Martha's Vineyard), Manomet
and Monamoyick, Sawkattucket, Nobsquosset and
Matakes, besides that on Nantucket Island, in the
eastern part of Massasoit's domain; at Assawam-
sett, and Nemasket, at Sakonnet at the mouth of the
river of the same name, and at Pocasset, or perhaps
it would be more accurate to say in. the Sakonnet
territory and the Pocasset territory, for the former
extended over the southern part of Tiverton and all
of Little Compton, Rhode Island, and the latter,
lying immediately east of the Pokanoket territory,
extended from Coles River in Swansea eastward at
least four miles beyond the Taunton River, and
from the narrows in the Sakonnet River, where the
Tiverton Stone Bridge now stands, northward to
the northern boundary of Freetown, including part
of Tiverton, Rhode Island, all of Fall River, most
of Freetown, and parts of Berkley, Dighton, Somer-
set and Swansea, Massachusetts. The Chief of this
tribe was Corbitant, of whom we shall see more
later, who resided at "Mettapuyst" (Mettapoissett)
now Gardner's Neck in Swansea. All of these were
probably included in Massasoit's enumeration of
"more than thirty villages," and particular atten-
tion is called to them at this time, because there is
reason for believing that they were fairly powerful
tribes, and all within the Wampanoag federation. I
have not directed particular attention to the Massa-

82 MASSASOIT

chusetts, because there may be some question of
their relation to the Wampanoags, whether they
were of them or only allied with them, the weight of
the evidence pointing rather to the latter idea than
to the former; and I have disregarded entirely
Colonel Caverly's statement concerning Passacon-
away as previously adverted to; nor have I made
any reference to the tribes of the Nipmucks who
were subject to the Great Chief of the Wampanoags.
A careful consideration of what has been said is
sufficient to lead to the conclusion that the three
hundred mentioned by some writers as all that re-
mained of the thirty thousand Wampanoags that
escaped the plague must have referred to the war-
riors of Pokanoket alone, or the inhabitants of
Massasoit's village of Sowams. It is hardly possible
to have mustered the sixty warriors who accom-
panied him to Plymouth from a total tribal mem-
bership scattered from the Cape and Islands to the
Providence River, as must have been done if the
entire population was only three hundred; and it
is not probable that Massasoit would leave his
women and children totally unguarded in the pres-
ence of the none too friendly Narragansetts across
the river, who according to some historians had in
comparatively recent years taken advantage of his
reduced power to wage war upon him, and had
wrested from him his beautiful island of Aquidnick.
The distance from Sowams to Plymouth by the old
Indian trail is said by early writers to have been
forty miles, and the three days, at least, required
for the journey out and back, and for the conference.

THE WAMPANOAG8 83

would be a long time to leave his village unguarded
if the Narragansetts had happened to make a raid
at that time. What probably happened was this.
Starting out on an expedition the outcome of which
was problematical, Massasoit most Ukely took the
"panieses," or men of valor, of the three villages
already mentioned. These would undoubtedly be
the most vigorous and active of the men who
formed the war council, and, at the same time, were
the warriors who followed him and were under his
immediate command when on the war path, the
warriors of the other tribes of the federation being
under the immediate command of their sachems.
If this theory is correct, it lends color to the infer-
ence that the three hundred comprised simply the
population of Sowams, or the warriors of Pokanoket;
and it may well be that the writers who have placed
this estimate on the numerical strength of the Wam-
panoags, taking into account the well known fact
that every place of considerable importance had its
sub-sachem or sagamore, may have looked upon the
people of Sowams, or possibly of Sowams and the
territory immediately surrounding it, as all there
was of the true Wampanoags; but I am incUned to
believe that this name is simply the appelation of a
confederacy of which the Pokanokets was the domi-
nant tribe, and which was held together in part by
the strength of that tribe, and in part by the neces-
sity of combining to prevent the inroads of invading
enemies. There imdoubtedly also existed some
closer bond of relationship, closer family ties per-
haps, among most of the federated tribes than

84 MASSASOIT

between them and other branches of the great
Algonqum family, or in other words a true Wam-
panoag Nation with subject tribes. There is no evi-
dence of a single tribe of this name, unless it was
another name for the Pokanokets. There is another
possibility that should not be overlooked in this
connection, and that is that Massasoit may have
started out with less than the sixty with whom he
arrived at Plymouth and augmented his force on
the way, although it is almost certain that he did
not draw from the Pocassets, because there is very
good reason for supposing that Corbitant, their sa-
chem, was not in sympathy with Massasoit's design
to cultivate the friendship of the English, and it is
equally certain that Corbitant was a chief of such
importance that his presence would have been
noted, had he been of the party. This suggestion is
advanced as a remote possibility, but that it is
hardly more than that is evidenced by the fact that
Samoset spoke of Massasoit as having sixty warriors
under him and that was the nimiber that appeared
with him.

The Pocassets, as we have already seen, formed
one of the most important branches or subdivisions
of the Wampanoag federation. Their exact nu-
merical strength is almost as much in doubt as is
that of the entire branch of the Algonquin family to
which the name "Wampanoag" is applied, although
there is reliable authority for the claim frequently
advanced that ' Corbitant, their Sachem in 1620,
could muster three hundred warriors, and estimat-
ing one warrior to five members of the tribe, this

THE WAMPANOAGS 85

would give them a total of fifteen hundred, which is
probably as near as it is possible to estimate the
strength of any of the tribes. They lived in the ter-
ritory immediately east of the Pokanoket country,
and their numbers and close proximity to Massa-
soit's own tribe, together with the personality of
their sachem, furnishes a reason for singHng them
out for particular mention at this time. Corbitant
was a man of considerable importance, as indeed
any man who could command three hundred war-
riors would be in the Wampanoag nation, weakened
as it was by the raid of the Tarratines and the
plague. He was not always in sympathy with some
of Massasoit's moves, and his known hostility and
independent scheming natmraUy lead us to inquire
whether the strength of the Wampanoags has not
been greatly underestimated by some, the reason-
able inference being that Corbitant might quite
naturally be expected to lead an open revolt if there
had been any chance of success, the natives not
being held in check by any doctrine of the divine
rights of kings, and not looking upon the persons
of their Great Chiefs as being endowed with any
particular sanctity. Corbitant, while maintaining
friendly relations with the whites apparently did it
more as the part of pohtical wisdom than through a
desire to encourage and aid them. He was un-
doubtedly the sachem who was with Massasoit in
his sickness in 1623, the day before Winslow arrived
at Sowams, and sought to arouse Massasoit's hos-
tility to the English saying as Winslow writes, "if
we had been as good friends indeed as we were now

86 MASSASOIT

in show, we would have visited him in this his
sickness, using many arguments to withdraw his
affections, and to persuade him to give way to some
things against us, which were motioned to him not
long before." Winslow does not mention the name
of this sachem, but enough is known of Corbitant
to lead to the belief that it was he. On the occa-
sion of this visit to Massasoit, Winslow stopped at
"Mattapuyst" with Corbitant on his way to So-
wams; and after his mission was accomphshed, and
Massasoit sufficiently recovered so that his friends
returned to their homes, he went to Corbitant's
lodge with him and spent the night there. He
speaks of the Chief as a "notable politician, yet full
of merry jests and squibs, and never better pleased
than when the like are returned upon him." Cor-
bitant was one of the eight sachems who ac-
knowledged themselves subjects of King James
in September 1621, his name being written Caun-
bitant on that document.

Wamsutta, or Mooanam, Massasoit's oldest son,
married Weetamo, supposed to be the daughter of
Corbitant; and, undoubtedly in right of his wife,
seems to have exercised some authority over the
Pocassets after Corbitant's death. In 1659 he
joined with other Indians in a grant of a tract of
land covering all of what is now Freetown and
more than half of Fall River to twenty-six pur-
chasers who were free men and from whom the
purchase is known in history as the Freemen's pm:-
chase. Weetamo is frequently referred to as the
Squaw Sachem of the Pocassets, and we will have

THE WAMPANOAGS 87

occasion to refer to her again, as well as to the part
played by the Pocassets in King PhiUp's war.

The Wampanoags and the Narragansetts appear
to have made more progress towards civilization
than most of the other Indian tribes, except possibly
the Iroquois League of Northern New York. Mas-
sasoit dwelt in a lodge at Sowams of a much more
substantial character than the ordinary tepees, and
Corbitant imdoubtedly had a similar residence at
Mettapoisett. There is still shown in the town of
Warren the Pokanoket's grist mill , consisting of a
natural flat table rock into which grooves have been
cut or worn by use, where the women of the tribe
groimd their corn by rolling round stones over it,
these movable stones being operated by rolling them
hke a wheel about a shaft thrust through a hole
drilled in the center. From the meal thus pro^
duced they made the Rhode Island Johnny cakes,
the counterparts of which still tickle the palates of
the descendents of the women who learned the art
of making them from the Indian women of almost
three centuries ago. The Rhode Island clambake,
the mere mention of which is still sufficient to call
together a multitude wherever that famous repast
is known, had its origin with one or the other of
these tribes and was known to both. The Indian
method of preparing it is still recognized as the one
method that gives it the peculiar flavor that cannot
be secured in any other way; that method consist-
ing of heating rocks by building fires upon them,
and then removing the embers and placing clams,
fish and green corn upon the rocks and covering

88 MASSASOIT

them with seaweed to hold the heat until the whole
is thoroughly cooked. Agriculture they had de-
veloped to a greater extent than most tribes, for
while their cultivation of the soil was crude, they
adopted artificial fertihzation, which they taught to
the whites as we shall hereafter see; and they raised
corn and beans in abundance from which they made
succotash, a dish originating with them; and they
had made some progress in the potter's art. The
Pokanokets constructed on the banks of the Kicke-
muit River a bath to which they resorted for the
cure of the ills that assailed them, and there is reason
for believing that both they and the Narragansetts
had others of a like character in other places. This
bath consisted of a structure bmlt of non-com-
bustible materials or cut in the clay banks, and was
heated in the same manner as that employed in
preparing the clambake for cooking as already out-
Kned. In this building they then sat and smoked
while the perspiration rolled down their dusky
bodies, concluding with a plunge in the river.

Such was the federation that occupied the land
surrounding the place at which that Uttle band of
devoted pilgrims first set foot on the New World.
They had fled from England to Holland that they
might escape the rigorous discipline of the estab-
lished church, and exercise their own free will in the
matter of religious worship; but Holland was not
their destination; it was simply the place of a tem-
porary sojourn, until the hand of destiny led them
across the dark waters in search of a broader field
of endeavor. We are sometimes impressed with a

THE WAMPANOAGS 89

belief that they were the instruments of fate sent
hither to establish in the newly discovered western
hemisphere a new order, out of which, eventually,
there was destined to arise a greater freedom,, a
broader humanity, than the world had before known.
It is no wonder that they, in their zeal, speak of
their escapes from the extraordinary perils that be-
set them both on the water in their frail bark, and
subsequently on the land, as due to the special dis-
pensation of Divine Providence. Their safe pass-
age of the stormy sea in late autiunn; their landing
at a place the entire population of which had been
wiped out, thus reducing to a minimum the prob-
abihty of molestation by natives who had no reason
to love the English, no reason to look upon them in
any light but that of marauders who might without
provocation and without warning attack them with
their terrible weapons of fire and thunder, or carry
them away into slavery as had been done before;
and the kindly greeting they received after their
fiirst unpleasant encoimter with the natives, all con-
spire to impel us of this more skeptical age to in-
dulge them in attributing this first successful issue
of their venture to the intervention of the hand that
guided the tribes of Israel through their many trib-
ulations, imtU, pvuified by the fire of adversity,
they arose triumphant and bore the ark of the
covenant into the Promised Land. If there was one
thing more than another, or more than all others,
that showed the protecting hand of Providence, it
was the disposition of the Great Sachem of the
Wampanoags and his people to extend to the

90 MASSASOIT

strangers the right hand of friendship, and to dwell
side by side with them in amity for half a centmy;
for until the outbreak of King Philip's war, there
was no serious trouble between the whites and the
Wampanoags. Minor outbreaks and personal acts
of violence there were, but, in general, they lived
side by side in peace and security, and while there
were discords, suspicions and wars with others, the
Wampanoags, under the guiding hand of their
Great Sachem Massasoit, remained faithful to their
treaty obhgations.

MASSASOIT
BoKN 1580 — Died 1661

IT is as a man of peace that we know Massasoit,
Great Sachem of the Wampanoags. There is
nothing in his career as far as it is revealed by the
white man's history, to appeal to the fiery ardor and
enthusiasm of youth hke the exploits of his son
Pometacom or Metacomet, the King Philip of his-
tory, or Red Jacket, Joseph Brant, Pontiac, Tecum-
seh or scores of others whose deeds of valor have
fired the imagination and thrilled the hearts of our
young men for generations; but to the man in
middle life, whose blood has been cooled to some
extent by the snows of many winters, to the student
of human character, there is something about the
calm and dignified demeanor of that great chief that
brings a feeling of regret that the colonists should
have looked upon the continued existence of his race
as an insmmoimtable barrier to the fruition of their
ambitious designs, and should have considered it
necessary to exterminate a race which by its own
unaided efforts, through ages of slow development
with no contact with the enlightenment of the old
world attained through eons of labored progress,
with no guiding hand to assist it in its groping

91

92 MASSASOIT

towards the light, had made sufficient advancement
along the paths of civihzation to produce such a
man.

I am aware that the vast majority of the super-
ficial readers of early American history have con-
cluded that the Indian tribes of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Connecticut were wiped out in a
cruel and unprovoked war begvm by King Philip in
open violation of the treaty his father had made
with Governor Carver of the Plymouth Colony;
but the man who holds this view cannot have
looked into the violations of that treaty by the
whites, and takes no account of the long Ust of
aggressions against the natives in violation of the
spirit of the treaty if not of its letter. The great
cause of that bloody war was the tendency on the
part of the colonists to treat the Indians as a sub-
ject race to whom they owed no duty, who were in
their way, and whom they were at Uberty to annoy
constantly in every conceivable manner. If they
had set out with a determination to arouse the na-
tives to declare war, in order that they might use
the hostihties thus begun as an excuse for exter-
minating them, they could not have succeeded more
admirably. When we consider the wonderful sa-
gacity, the political wisdom of Massasoit's move in
seeking to establish friendly relations with the
invaders of his soil and to pave the way for the
two races to live side by side in peace and harmony,
instead of sounding the alarm and calling his trusty
warriors about him to expel the foreign foe, we can-
not fail to be impressed with his foresight, based, as

MASSASOIT 93

it was, upon his knowledge of men in a wild and
natural state, and unacquainted with the arts and
wiles of civilization. That his judgment was in
error, and his confidence misplaced was no fault of
his, but the misfortune of his people. Had the
colonists shown half the regard for the spirit of the
treaty they made with him, and for the obhgations
they thereby assumed towards him and his, that he
manifested during the forty years of his life after its
signing, what a different story would the annals of
New England tell today. It is almost enough to
bring the blush of shame to the white man's cheek
to recount the story of colonial perfidy towards the
friendly Wampanoags and Narragansetts, once the
story is stripped of the cant with which it has been
decked out and which we have been too accustomed
to regard as religious zeal.

Zealots the Pilgrims were, religious fanatics, rival-
ing the janizaries of the Moslem world, seeking a
place where they might enjoy religious freedom and
celebrating their 'success by denying to others the
freedom they sought to establish for themselves.
They allowed no fine scruples of decency and honor
to stand in the way of spurring on to their death a
race that seemed to them to be an impediment to
their material progress. They converted what they
could by preaching the word, and stopped at no
savage cruelty to wipe out what they could not
convert. Their most eminent divines exulted over
the defeat of the men who had been their friends,
but whom they had betrayed so often that their
friendship had been turned to hostility. The chil-

94 MASSASOIT

dren of the forest, following the strongest instinct in
the hiunan breast, and fighting for their own preser-
vation and the protection of home and fireside, were
ruthlessly slaughtered by the men between whom
and annihilation they had interposed their naked
breasts, and whose priests boasted of the number of
souls they "sent to hell" in some battle brought on
by their treatment of the men to whom they had
aUied themselves by the most solemn ties. Cant
and hypocrisy have ever gone hand in hand with
excessive religious zeal, and the preachers of New
England furnished, not an exception to the rule, but
its most striking example. They preached the word
of God and pretended to be followers of the humble
Nazarene; but practiced the wiles of the devil; and
rivaled him in their satanic exultation over the fate
of the foes they made by their diabohcal practices.
There was bound to be a conflict between Euro-
pean and Indian methods of living. The two could
not co-exist on the same soil. The two races cotild
not long live side by side except by one of them
conforming to the mode of fife of the other. It
was inevitable that the country must be all savage
or all civiUzed; but there was no danger to Euro-
pean ideals and civilization in trying the experiment
of leavening the whole lump. The Indians of east-
em Massachusetts and Rhode Island had shown
sufficient inteUigence and sufficient interest in Eng-
lish customs and manners of living to warrant a
hope for a complete reclamation of the race. True
civilization is not of such a quahty or character
that it is in danger of being lost by extending it to

MASSASOIT 95

cover a broader field than has been its wont. It is
a condition that is strengthened and invigorated by
propagation and extension. It was no more in dan-
ger of extinction in the wilds of New England by
bringing the natives within its enlightening influ-
ence, than is the light of the sun of being extin-
guished by turning it into hitherto unexplored
regions of darkness.

The Pilgrims brought with them the seed from
which, by careful culture, has developed our civil
and reUgious liberty. They planted and nourished
it here, even though they were themselves as in-
tolerant of others as were those from whom they
fled, of them. It is characteristic of freedom that
it grows and flourishes under adversity. The
greater the opposition, the stronger the growth,
even though temporarily checked by the heavy
hand of oppression; and it is unfortvmate that the
foxmders of our liberties should have considered it
necessary to water the seed they planted with the
blood of nature's freemen.

The liberty that cannot flourish without enslav-
ing another is not worth preserving, and the Ameri-
can people through long years of toil and suffering
learned this great truth; and, out of the Umited
freedom estabhshed by the colonies, evolved the
only true freedom, to move unfettered and un-
trammelled as far as can be done without interfer-
ence with the equal liberty of another. If the early
settlers on these shores had recognized this eternal
truth, instead of leaving it to their posterity to
evolve as the true foundation of right and justice.

96 MASSASOIT

the story of their injustice would never have been
told. But all human progress is slow; and as man
cannot, by a single bound, reach the mountain top,
so a race cannot at once spring from darkness into
perfect light.

I would not detract from the stern virtues of the
men who laid the foundations of our free institu-
tions, the planters who labored early and late that
we might reap for generations in greater measure
than was vouchsafed to them; but, remembering
that it is easier to sail a charted sea than to thread
one's way among the rocks and shoals of an un-
known coast, we may still be permitted a measiu'e
of criticism of the methods they adopted for the ac-
complishment of their purpose. Looking back upon
the scenes of the long ago, one knows not which
most to admire, the pertinacity with which the
Christian English clung to the establishment of their
ideals, which, illuminated by the ever increasing
light of intellectual freedom, have become cm-
ideals; or that of the pagan Indian, who, finding
that his liberty was being gradually swallowed up
in that which he had helped the English to estab-
lish upon his lands, turned at bay and attempted to
break the fetters which the English liberty was
forging for him and his.

The results of the coming of the Pilgrim fathers
have been told in song and story; they have been
heralded wherever the voice of men is heard; they
have been taught to lisping children at their
mothers' knee, and have been the theme of poets
and the realization of the dream of philosophers.

MASSASOIT 97

I would not gainsay them if I could; I would not
turn back the wheels of human progress; I would
not dim the lustre of one ray from the torch of
hberty our fathers lighted, and which has burned
brighter with each succeeding generation imtil its
rays have penetrated the uttermost parts of the
earth; but without detracting from the accom-
plishments of the mighty men of the past, I would
do honor to the vaHant race which, seeing its liber-
ties endangered by the encroachments of the men
whom it had welcomed, sprang to arms for the
defence of their freedom, with a zeal that has won
our commendation wherever displayed by civilized
peoples from Marathon to the Argonne. I would
pause in the contemplation of the glories of the
past, long enough to deposit a wreath of earth's
fairest blossoms upon the places where lie buried the
hopes and aspirations of the noblest race of savages
the world has ever seen. I would turn aside to look
upon Sachem's Plaiu and Moimt Hope with a feel-
ing of regret that the men who fell there could not
have devoted their God given energy to the accom-
plishment of their dreams of living with their white
brethren in peace and harmony. A race that could
produce a Massasoit is not all bad, and it is a mis-
fortune to the world that the good that was in it
could not have developed side by side with the
good that our fathers had inherited from the
memories of a thousand years of upward strug-
gUng towards the light.

The hand of Destiny that planted the seeds of
Freedom for you and me, under the erring guidance

98 MASSASOIT

of those who controlled it for their own benefit,
sowed the seeds of death and extermination for the
simple natives, who seemed to the blind, unreason-
ing, or cold, calculating men of darker days to
block the wheels of their progress. With no other
right than that of might, they swept away the
last vestige of a once proud and powerful people,
preeminent among whom, as indeed preeminent
among all men of all races and of all time, stands
the man to whose memory these Hnes are dedicated,
Massasoit the Great Sachem of the Wampanoags.
We have abeady considered the probable nimierical
strength of the Pokanokets and, in a general way,
that of the federated tribes, calling particular at-
tention to the Pocassets and Nausets about whom
something fairly definite is known; and it is not
my purpose to make further comment upon that
subject except as it may be necessary to emphasize'
or illustrate some other matter that seems to be of
sufficient importance to warrant trespassing upon
the reader's patience by calling attention again and
again to the situation as it was in the early days of
the colonial life of New England, and particularly
of the Plymouth Colony. And, in this connection,
no sketch of Massasoit would be quite complete
without a brief reference to the fact that in his
earlier days, he had been a great war chief himself,
or at least the head of a federation capable of hold-
ing its own against the tribes that were undoubtedly
attempting from time to time to make inroads upon
its himting grounds; for we have it from Captain
Benjamin Chiu-ch, who was General Winslow's chief

MASSASOIT 99

of staff in King Philip's war, that Annawon, Phihp's
great captain, after his capture, boasted of his
former prowess and deeds of valor when serving
under Philip's father. I use the expression, a great
war chief himself or the head of a powerful federa-
tion, advisedly, for it seems to be clearly estab-
lished that the Great Sachem, or Chief of Chiefs,
of the Indian federations, while the head of the civil
government, was not always the personal leader of
his warriors in battle, that duty sometimes devolv-
ing upon some great captain who had distinguished
himself by his valor, CTmning and capacity for in-
spiring and handling large bodies of warriors. To
such a captain was frequently entrusted the con-
duct or personal direction of the wars after a plan of
campaign had been agreed upon in a council, in-
cluding all the chiefs and sagamores together with
the select body or class called "paniese" who were
the chief men of valor. This seems particularly to
have been the practice among the Five Nations of
the Iroquois League, and was probably the occa-
sional practice with the other federations, although
a careful perusal of such records as are available
leads to the conclusion that the Great Sachem him-
self in most instances personally conducted his cam-
paigns. We do not have to look far for a reason for
this. From our knowledge of Indian character, we
may well infer that the Great Chiefs would be ex-
tremely reluctant to relinquish the control of their
warriors to a sub-chief or captain through fear of
loss of their own prestige and the acquisition of too
great an ascendency on the part of their captains.

100 MASSASOIT

prowess on the warpath being the one qualification
that would appeal most strongly to the Indian tem-
perament and endear a chief to his people, thus
strengthening his hold upon them. Consequently
we may safely conclude that before he had been
weakened by the loss of his people through the
ravages of the pestilence of 1616-1617, and the
raids of the Tarratines upon his outlying tribes,
Massasoit was himself a noted warrior. Through
the agencies enumerated his war strength had been
reduced from three thousand or five thousand war-
riors, there being authority for both figures, to prob-
ably one thousand or twelve hundred, not counting
the Nipmucks, who were most Ukely governed as
conquered tribes, and of doubtful value in war.
That they were not of the closely alhed or related
tribes, but were looked upon as inferiors, is fairly
apparent from Massasoit's remark to Roger Wil-
liams, as quoted by him in his letter to Governor
Winthrop at Boston, which will appear later. I
cannot refrain from expressing the belief that my
estimate as given above of one thousand or more is
fair; and in this connection, I will take the hberty
of digressing again from the subject of this chapter
to make another of those Uttle side trips into terri-
tory that ought, perhaps, to have been explored
when we were inquiring into the numerical strength
of the Wampanoags, but an examination of which is
timely in connection with what I have just said,
and in the consideration of Massasoit's readiness to
treat with the colonists and the importance to them
of that friendly disposition.

MASSASOIT 101

At the time of Canonicus* challenge to the settlers
in November, 1621, Bradford, for some reason,
came to the conclusion that it was his desire to
"lord it over the weaker Pokanokets and Massa-
chusetts"; and, from what we know of that wily
and ambitious chief, we may well believe that Brad-
ford's suspicion, even if it was nothing more than
that, was well founded. The Narragansetts had
escaped the ravages of the pestilence, and Canonicus,
taking advantage of his neighbor's weakness, had be-
gun an offensive warfare against Massasoit, and had
wrested from him the Island of Aquidnick. This
probably could be accomplished only by force; but
the encounter is likely to have been limited to the
occupants of the island, with possibly such assist-
ance as could be hmried to them from tribes in
close proximity. The wars among the natives were
imdoubtedly of short diuration, a single combat
sometimes deciding the issue, and it might well
happen that Canonicus could muster his warriors in
sufficient force to conquer the island before any
assistance could reach its people, and to hold it
against any attempts of the weakened Wampanoags
to retake it. According to the best authorities,
from three to fom* thousand warriors stood ready
to take up the War Cry of Canonicus at that time
and to pass it along from village to village, like
Rhoderick Dhu's summons to Clan Alpine. If he
was as ambitious to extend his domain and power
as some writers think, and as his attack upon the
island seems to indicate, it is inconceivable that he
should have refrained from further conquest if the

102 MASSASOIT

Wampanoags, Massachusetts and Pawtuckets, or
Pennacooks, were as weak as some writers seem to
think, Drake placing the strength of the Paw-
tuckets at that time at two hundred and fifty souls,
not warriors but all combined, and another writer
saying that the Massachusetts were the weakest of
all the three federations.

It is true that the Pequots at some earher date
had subjugated the Mohicans, Niantics and other
minor tribes in Connecticut and had settled down
upon the land contiguous to that of the Narragan-
setts on the west; and that the bitterest hostility
existed between these two tribes or federations; but
they seem to have been at peace at this time; and
from our reading of the records of dissensions be-
tween the Pequots and the conquered tribes which
they evidently were trying to join to themselves, we
may well beUeve that they were then bending all
their energy to the task of consolidating the con-
quered territory, a task at which they were never
entirely successful. However much the Narra-
gansetts may have feared attempts at further con-
quests on the part of the Pequots, there is no
evidence of any Pequot aggressions against them at
that time; and it is more than Ukely that the hos-
tility of later days was first manifested by the Nar-
ragansetts themselves, being aroused in part at least
by the raid of the Pequots upon the hunting grounds
of the Niantics and the Mohicans, the former of
whom were more closely related to the Narragan-
setts than either of them were to the Pequots; and

MASSASOIT 103

the Mohicans not being held in such dread as were
their conquerors.

So the fear of Pequot invasion naay be ehminated
as a possible deterrent to further Narragansett
aggression against the Wampanoags, and we are
compelled to look for another reason for Canonicus'
failure to follow up his seiziu-e of Aquidnick. There
seems but one logical conclusion, and that is that
the Wampanoag strength on the mainland, where
the destruction of a few villages would result only in
driving their occupants back upon the inland tribes
by which they would be constantly augmented was
sufficient to hold Canonicus in check.

These reflections lead us directly to a considera-
tion of Massasoit's purpose in approaching the Eng-
lish with the ohve branch of peace. Any suggestion
that he did it from piu-ely disinterested motives
would be a reflection upon his sagacity. That he
was running counter to the wishes of his most
powerful sub-sachem, Corbitant of Pocasset, is
clearly established, and it is inconceivable that he
voluntarily trailed to Plymouth for the pm^pose of
giving up something for nothing. On the other
hand, he knew enough about the English not to
expect something for nothing from them. The ter-
ritory of his own tribes had been invaded by Har-
low and Htmt, who had carried away many of his
people, some to be sold into slavery, and others to
be held in virtual slavery to those who desired to
utihze them in further trade among the tribes.
Squanto had returned, and, of course, had related
his experiences; and Massasoit must have known

104 MASSASOIT

of similar outrages perpetrated upon other tribes
along the New England coast. Virginia Baker in
her excellent little book, "Massasoit's Town of So-
wams in Pokanoket," speaks of him as wise states-
man and shrewd poUtician; and it is in this character
that we are impelled, by a consideration of his acts,
to look upon him. Squanto's account of what he
had seen in England where he had spent much
time and had been kindly treated must have seemed
to his simple listeners Uke tales from the "Arabian
Nights." Massasoit had heard his story and had
been impressed by it; and, when he learned that
voyagers from that wonderful land had settled upon
his territory, he went to them, not to surrender any
portion of his sovereignty, but as a king to treat
with the representatives of a king. There was no
thought of submission or subjection. He came to
ascertain the purpose of their visit and their inten-
tions, and when he learned that they contemplated
a permanent settlement, he sat down with them to
discuss terms on which they might live side by side
in perfect harmony.

The memorable treaty was the outcome of this
conference, and imder it he accomphshed his pur-
pose as long as the men who were parties to it hved
and kept a controlling hand on the affairs of the
colony. It was not encroachments by Carver,
Bradford, Winslow and their associates, who knew
him in the early days, that caused the breach and
httle by little widened it until nothing short of the
resort to arms could settle the differences between
the two races, but the unjust suspicions, followed

MASSASOIT 105

by the arbitrary conduct and petty acts of annoy-
ance of a later generation. The ambitious designs
of the colonists, when they had attained sufficient
strength to walk alone, led them to attempt to
govern the Indians as subjects, to order them about
at will, to interfere in their most intimate tribal
affairs, to take jurisdiction of matters that ought to
have been left to tribal coimcils, instead of treating
them as an independent and politically equal people.
It was this conduct on the part of the whites that
broke the chain of friendship and plunged the colo-
nists into war with the sons of the men who had
befriended them at a time when that friendship was
a matter of life or death to them; a war that cost
the colonists thousands of lives that might have
been saved by a Uttle tolerance and a sense of jus-
tice, and that resulted in the extermination of a
once proud and powerful people.

This fatal ending of a friendship so auspiciously
begun cannot justly be charged to Massasoit, nor
entirely to his sons and successors. The history of
the times has been written by the colonists. The
Indian has left no chronicle of the events that
finally impelled him to dig up the tomahawk. It
is by the white man's records that both must be
judged; and those records convict the colonists of a
series of aggressions of sufficient seriousness to arouse
the ire and stir the blood of any people who had.been
accustomed, to range the forests and fish the streams
in untrammeled freedom until the white man cun-
ningly^ forged the fetters for their free born feet.

Massasoit entered into the treaty in entire good

106 MASSASOIT

faith, and with a fixed determination to observe it
in spirit and in letter, as is conclusively shown by
the several acts to which I shall call particular at-
tention, by his overlooking its breach by the Eng-
Ush in refusing to surrender Squanto, and by the
fact that the treaty was never broken by him or his
people during the forty years of his hfe after its
signing, nor during the short reign of his eldest son
and successor, Wamsutta, nor indeed during the
first thirteen years of the rule of his second son
Pometacom; although there were nmabhngs of the
approaching tempest from 1671. Indeed, the colo-
nists tried to find evidence of bad faith on the part
of Wamsutta ten years before, but the most they
did was to estabhsh their own bad faith in spite of
their efforts to cover it with the cloud of suspicion
against him. A further consideration of the affair
with that great chief will appear when we come to
a survey of his short term in his chieftaincy; so
I shall dismiss it for the present with the reflection
that some acts on the part of the whites during
the period which we are considering, as recorded by
themselves, are enough to raise the question whether
they were not guilty of a deUberate attempt to so
arouse and exasperate the natives, as to lead them
to acts of open hostihty to be seized upon as an
excuse for exterminating the race. I am aware that
this is a serious indictment, but it is supported by
a series of aggressions that seem inexplicable on
any other theory than that they were dehberately
planned, or were perpetrated with reckless disregard
for the rights of the Indians.

MASSASOIT 107

Massasoit, as I have said, entered into the pact
with Governor Carver in good faith. He was ac-
customed to dealing with men whose only bond was
their word, with the simple natives, "silly savages,"
as Captain Smith caUs them, unaccustomed to the
arts of civilization and the trick of trying to find
excuses for breaking their pledges, instead of studi-
ously endeavoring to observe them, both in letter
and in spirit; and he then had no reason for sup-
posing that the English were less sincere, or that
they entered into the relations defined in the pact
with the intent to observe it only in so far as it
served their purpose, or as long as it was useful to
them. This was one of the lessons in the higher
European civilization that they learned in the bitter
school of experience; and the men who taught them
this code of morals had no right to complain when
the results of their teaching reacted upon them-
selves. I am reluctant to believe that Carver then
looked upon his treaty in that light; but we find
his immediate successor, Bradford, recording the
fact that he, as early as 1622 in the episode arising
out of the perfectly apparent perfidy of Squanto,
was more intent upon finding an excuse for evading
the treaty than upon conforming to its provisions.

So when Samoset on March 16, 1621, appeared in
the street of Plymouth, and, after being entertained,
departed on the next day sajdng he would bring
Massasoit, a great Sachem who had sixty warriors
imder him; and apparently sent ninners who had
been lurking in the neighborhood, to convey to
Massasoit the tidings that the Enghsh had en-

108 MASSASOIT

camped upon the hunting grounds of one of his
tribes, now extinct, and had erected habitations
there of a more permanent character than had ever
been attempted before, the Great Sachem himself,
proud ruler of more than thirty villages, with his
sixty panieses, took up the trail of forty miles to
visit the intruders, not for the purpose of expelling
them by force, not to trade with them as had been
done before along the coast, but to inquire the piu:-
pose of this unbidden camping upon the groimds of
which he was still the rightful owner, even though
the tribe, his tribe, that had occupied them had
been wiped out. Possibly he had in mind the very
thing that happened, the formation of a league with
the white men, who fought with "fire and thunder,"
to assist him in case of further encroachments by his
ambitious neighbor, Canonicus; and for which he
was willing to give a full equivalent, the right to
occupy the land, the assistance of his people in
teaching the strangers how to compel the forest,
stream and soil to 3deld up a subsistence, and to aid
them in case of hostile attacks upon them by tribes
over which he had no control, or which were likely
to break away from such restraint as he had over
them.

Viewed in the light of what we know, it now
seems that the colonists were getting the best end
of the bargain as matters then stood, and could
well afford to be Uberal in the construction of the
duties and obligations assumed by them. True, as
they increased in numbers and strength, the scale
might have tipped the other way even if the treaty

MASSASOIT 109

had been rigidly adhered to by the settlers, but this
affords no excuse for its breach by them. As
matters stood on that bleak day in March, 1621,
with their ranks depleted by death, that had deso-
lated nearly, if not quite, every hearth, deaths in
such numbers that they dared not raise a mound
to mark the spots where they had consigned their
departed to earth for fear that their weakness
might be discovered, they received much more than
they gave. To them this friendly visit of Massa-
soit and his readiness to sit with them in council,
to smoke with them the pipe of peace, to form
with them a defensive alliance, must have seemed
like a visitation of guardian angels from an unseen
shore.

Words without deeds, however, are of little value,
promises are easily made, and, too often, as easily
broken. The shores of time are thickly strewn with
the wreckage of treaties shattered by the perfidy of
men who look not to their pUghted word once it
seems to their advantage to disregard their solemn
pledges. This reflection brings us to a consideration
of the benefits accruing to the colonists from the
faithfulness of the natives to the pact entered into
between Governor Carver and their Great Sachem.

Things moved rapidly during the first few years
after the landing of the Pilgrims, and there must
have been times when they were in serious doubt
whether their venture was destined to success or
failure. Without attempting to recite the entire
history of that period, I wiU call attention to a few
of the important events for the successful cukni-

110 MASSASOIT

nation of which the colonists were indebted to the
Great Sachem who had pledged his friendship to
them. I do this for the purpose of properly ap-
praising the value of that friendship.

Two men occupy a unique position in the early
life of the colonists. I shall have more to say about
them in a later chapter, but it is not inopportune to
here call attention briefly to the fact ■ that they
played an important part in assisting the settlers to
establish themselves, and to enter into trade rela-
tions with the tribes; of these Squanto, it will be
remembered was either the only survivor or one of
the very few survivors of the Patuxets who had occu-
pied the territory around Plymouth as far back as
the hunting grounds of the Nemaskets, whose prin-
cipal village was on the site now occupied by
Middleboro; and consequently he was a subject of
Massasoit. A brief account of his invaluable serv-
ices will appear elsewhere, and my only purpose
now is to suggest that without the friendship of
his Great Sachem he might not have been in posi-
tion to give such assistance to the colonists as to
lead Corbitant, in his bitterness, to speak of him
as the tongue of the English.

Hobamock, the other of these two, was one of
the panieses of Massasoit, attached to his chief-
taincy as counsellor and personal follower on the
warpath. He came to the English shortly after
the end of July, 1621, and proved to be of great help
to them in ejctending their trade and in establishing
friendly relations with the surrounding tribes. In
this he was undoubtedly aided by his position as a

MASSASOIT 111

counsellor to the Great Sachem, his influence on
this account extending even beyond the hunting
grounds of the Wampanoags. Besides it was he who
broke away and gave the alarm that resulted in the
rescue of Squanto when threatened by Corbitant. It
is true that Squanto was only threatened and then
let go, but what might have been his fate had not
Corbitant known that Hobamock was likely to
bring a hornet's nest about his ears, we can only
conjecture. And so the colonists owed the con-
tinued services of Squanto to Hobamock.

Three months after Massasoit's first visit to Ply-
mouth, as their first spring in the new world was
ripening into summer. Governor Bradford, who had
been elected to succeed Carver, was desirous of se-
curing first hand information concerning the Great
Sachem, how important a personage he was, and
what were his surroundings, and so on July 2, 1621,
Edward Winslow, who had been one of the hostages
for Massasoit's safety when he entered Plymouth to
confer with Governor Carver, set out accompanied
by Stephen Hopkins and with Squanto as guide, to
secure the desired information, to strengthen the
ties of friendship, and to prociure corn for planting.
They arrived on July 4, and foimd Massasoit absent,
but he soon returned and greeted them kindly.
They presented him a red horseman's coat, which
he donned with great pride, and a copper chain
which he was to send by any messengers whom he
might wish to dispatch to Pljraiouth, as evidence
that they came from him. On this occasion they
foimd him and his people reduced to such straits

112 MASSASOIT

for food that he was unable to offer them anything
to eat until the next day, when he set before his
guests two large boiled fish, which served as a re-
past for them and about forty of the natives. They
spent two nights in his lodge, but in such discom-
fort, as Winslow informs us in great detail, that
they arose more exhausted than when they retired.
On the third day they departed to return to Ply-
mouth, although urged to make their visit longer
by Massasoit, who expressed regret that he had not
been able better to entertain them. Unfortunately
Winslow does not inform us what entertainment
they had after the first repast. From this and later
visits there sprung up a strong personal friendship
between Winslow and the Great Sachem which con-
tinued until the death of the former in 1655.

Hardly had this mission been successfully accom-
pUshed when there arose a great hue and cry for
one John Billington who was lost. He had gone
into the woods, and, unable to find his way out,
wandered up and down for five days, finally reach-
ing Manomet, twenty miles down the bay. The
Manomets carried him further down the cape to
the Nausets. The governor inquired of the Indians
about him, and finally Massasoit sent word where
he was and a shallop was sent for him. The Nausets
soon after came, one hundred warriors, and "made
peace" with the colonists. It is related that of the
one hundred who came only sixty entered the vil-
lage, the others holding themselves aloof. It was
at about this time that Hobamock came to Uve
at Plymouth. Whether he was the messenger who

MASSASOIT 113

brought the tidings of BiUington's whereabouts and
remained, or not, does not appear; but he was there
in August, for it was then that the episode between
him and Squanto and Corbitant, which we will
have occasion to consider later, came timibling so
close on the heels of that with the Manomets and
Nausets that the settlers must have been nearly
distracted by the antics of their neighbors. When
Captain Standish with his formidable army of four-
teen men smrounded the house in which Corbitant
was supposed to be holding Squanto prisoner, if
indeed he had not already dispatched him, three
men were "sore wounded" in getting out, and
were brought to Plymouth and healed; whereupon
the colonists "received the gratulations of many
sachems. Yea, those of the Island of Capawack
sent to make friendship, and this Corbitant himself
used the mediation of Massasoit to make his peace
but was shie to come near them a long while after,"
as the story is told by Bradford.

Following this series of events, each of which
was fraught with the possibility of disaster to the
settlers, came the red letter day of the whole year.
On September 13, nine chiefs came to Plymouth to
arrange a modus vivendi as modem diplomats would
say; and before they got away every one of them
signed an acknowledgment of allegiance to King
James. Probably not one of them knew what he
had done or dreamed that he had entered the town
a prince, a ruler over his people, and left it a slave,
for that is what the colonists tried to make of
them; and their posterity have raised a great hue

114 MASSASOIT

and cry about the faithless Indians not submitting
to be governed by the colonists, as loyal subjects of
the same king. Unless the rulers and holy men of
God at Plymouth loaded them with "strong water"
until they were entirely bereft of their senses, they
undoubtedly thought that they were treating on
equal terms with the settlers, signing a treaty of
alliance, and not a craven surrender of their sover-
eignty. These nine chiefs were:

Ohquamehtjd, said by Drake to be a Wampa-
noag, and undoubtedly true in the broad sense in
which we use the term, for the same name, though
spelled Oquomehod, appears on a deed from the
Nausets to the people of New Pljonouth in 1666.

Cawnacome, whom Drake identifies as Cone-
camon, Sachem of Manomet; and I desire to digress
at this point to call attention to the fact that this
latter spelling is identical with that of the name of
Epenow's companion in captivity when he was
carried away by Harlow in 1611, and undoubtedly
identifies the former victim of English cupidity
with the later sachem of his tribe.

Obbitinua, said by Drake to be Obbatinewat,
sachem of the Massachusetts, and subject to Mas-
sasoit. Dexter disagrees with Drake, on the theory
that the colonists would not have asked him to sub-
mit himself by reason of his relations with Massa-
soit. This reasoning seems illogical to me, because
there is strong ground for believing that the Massa-
chusetts were not subjects, but aUies of Massasoit,
in fact the weight of authority strongly points to
this conclusion; besides, even if he were a subject

MASSASOIT 115

of Massasoit, Dexter's reasoning seems weak in
view of the fact that nearly all the sachems who
submitted themselves at that time were clearly .sub-
jects of Massasoit. ^~ ^.—■■'' ' '

Nattawahuntp probably Natawanute or Atta-
wanhut of Connecticut, although Drake inclines to
the behef that this is Nashacowan, a Nipmuck
chief who was a subject of Massasoit. My reason
for believing it to be the former is that Attawanhut,
a Connecticut River sachem, had been dispossessed
of his territory along the Fresh (Connecticut)
River by Wapyquent, or Tattoepan as he is most
frequently called, and Winslow, who had large
property holdings in Connecticut and spent a con-
siderable part of his time there, restored him to his
former possessions, quite Hkely as a reward for his
submission, and in the expectation of profiting by
giving him, a subject of the king, the name of ruling
the natives in the vicinity.

Caunbitant (Corbitant), Sachem of Pocasset
whom we have already noticed.

Chicatatjbut, of the Massachusetts.

QuADBQTJiNA, Massasoit's younger brother, who
accompanied him to Plymouth on the occasion of his
first visit and was undoubtedly one of the two
"Kings of Pokanoket" whom Captain Dermer met
in the wilds of Nemasket in 1619.

HuTTAMOiDEN, whom I am unable to identify
from the writings of contemporary historians either
by this name or any other bearing a close resem-
blance to it.

Appanow, whom Drake takes to be Aspinet of

116 MASSASOIT

Nauset, taking issue with other early writers, who
think it was Epenow of Capawack. The closer
SHBJlari^ty jn sound together with the recorded fact
that after the episode of Corbitant, Squanto and
Hobamock the month previoirs,'^" those (Sachems)
of the island of Capawack sent to make friendship,"
leads me to beUeve that it was Epenow. He had
sent the month before and now undoubtedly came
in person. This is probably the same Epenow
who, with Conecamon, was carried away by Har-
low in 1611, and made a thrilling escape three
years later, as already related.

The confusion in names resulting from changes
in speUing from sound leaves us in doubt as to the
identity of some of the men of that period. The
names, being written down by some Englishman aa
the sounds struck his ear, were spelled in almost as
many ways as there were men who had occasion
to write them. Consequently, where differences of
opinion arise concerning the identity of particular
individuals, we are obUged to decide for ourselves
which appears the most reasonable.

My only reason for going into this question in
detail and attempting to establish the identity of
these sachems is to call attention to the far reach-
ing effects of the treaty of March 22, 1621, for
there can be no question that the event of Septem-
ber 13 was the direct outgrowth of that treaty, as,
indeed, were all the events to which I have just
called attention.

There were other matters arising at a later time
in which the action of the natives was unquestion-

MASSASOIT 117

ably influenced by the alliance between the Wam-
panoags and the English; but I will content myself
with calling attention briefly to one of them at this
time, one that will be more fuUy discussed in an-
other chapter, but is of so much consequence in
connection with the subject now under considera-
tion, that this array of the direct benefits resulting
to the colonists from their treaty with Massasoit
would not be complete without some reference to
it; and that is the challenge sent by Canonicus to
Plymouth in November, 1621, in the form of a
bimdle of arrows wrapped in a rattlesnake's skin.
We are accustomed to think of Governor Bradford's
defiant reply, accompanied by the same skin filled
with powder and musket balls, as the only deter-
rent to Canonicus' ambitious project of attacking
the colony. But it should be borne in mind that
the Narragansetts could reach Pl3nnouth only by
sailing around Cape Cod, which was impracticable,
or by crossing Wampanoag territory. This would
be an act of open hostility to the latter unless as-
sented to, so it may have been, not the powder and
balls alone, but the knowledge that he would have
to contest his way with Massasoit's warriors, as
well, that held the wily Canonicus in check. The
Narragansetts at that time could muster at least
three thousand warriors, and if the Wampanoags
had been hostile to the Enghsh or even passive, it
does not require any particularly prophetic vision
or power of divination to read the result to the
colonists.
And so the first year passed without even the

118 MASSASOIT

suspicion of any lack of good faith on the part of
either the natives or the colonists; for no one ever
thought of blaming Massasoit for the acts of Cor-
bitant, or of the Manomets and Nausets. Corbi-
tant's Pocassets were ahnost or quite as strong
numerically as the Pokanokets alone, and their ter-
ritory adjoined; and the Manomets and Nausets
were way down on Cape Cod. When one stops to
consider the way in which the tribes of the federa-
tion were scattered, and the natives' natural love of
freedom from interference, it is easy to see that
the Great Sachem who could hold them together at
all in times of peace must be both diplomat and
warrior.

But in the spring of 1622 Squanto, who evidently
was nourishing ambitions of his own, became jealous
of Hobamock, and caused rumors to be circulated
which cast some doubt upon the sincerity of Mas-
sasoit 's friendship; and Bradford tells us that
"much anxiety existed which was increased by the
conduct of Massasoit, who seemed to frown on us,
and neither came nor sent to us as formerly." The
valuation which they placed upon his friendship at
that time, can easily be seen from this passage from
Bradford himself. Massasoit had good reason to
frown on them, and to refrain from coming or send-
ing to them as formerly. This was after Squanto's
treachery to his Great Sachem had been discovered,
of which a more particular account will be found
in the chapter deahng with him, and Massasoit had
himself gone to Plymouth to request his delivery to
him in pursuance of the treaty and had sent messen-

MASSASOIT 119

gers for the same purpose, all to no avail. This
might well cause him to wonder if the English
looked upon the treaty as creating obligations and
imposing duties upon only one of the signatories;
and he may have felt himself released from a strict
observance of its terms. From a remark made by
him after Winslow had administered to him and re-
Ueved him of his distress in March, 1623, it is appar-
ent that the Great Chief's distrust of the English,
arising from Bradford's refusal to give Squanto up
to him, was not entirely removed until that time.

That there was groimd for the colonists' anxiety
is apparent from the disclosure made by Massasoit
after his reUef by Winslow; and that there was
justification for the acts of the natives we will show
in a subsequent paragraph; but, after Winslow's
visit to Sowams, there does not appear to have
been any suspicion on the part of the settlers that
Massasoit was a party to their projects, although
he knew of them.

Sometime in March, 1623, word of Massasoit's
illness reached Plymouth, and, at Governor Brad-
ford's behest, Edward Winslow again set out for
Sowams, accompanied by Hobamock and a "gentle-
man from London, named John Hamden," perhaps
the John Hampden who afterwards distinguished
himself as a leader of the ParUamentary forces in
the struggle between the Commons and Charles II.
Bradford desired them to make this trip to express
to Massasoit his friendship, and to obtain a con-
ference with Dutch traders who were reported to
have been driven ashore in Narragansett Bay.

120 MASSASOIT

Before their arrival the ship had been gotten off
and so this part of their errand came to naught.
Not so the other purpose, however, for on arriving
at Massasoit's lodge, they found him very ill,
scarcely able to speak and wholly unable to see.
When he asked who had come, and was told Wins-
low, he exclaimed: "Ah, Winslow, I shall never
see thee again!" By administering some simple
remedies and scraping off a thick coating which had
gathered in his throat and on his tongue, Winslow
soon relieved him of his suffering; whereupon he
said: "Now I see the EngUsh are my friends and
love me, and whilst I live I will never forget this
kindness they have showed me." The doubt exist-
ing since the episode over Squanto, fostered by some
one of his wily sub-sachems, imquestionably Corbi-
tant, who had whispered suspicions into his ears
during his sickness, was resolved; and Massasoit
kept his word.

His sagamores and alUes who had come to visit
him, some from a distance of a hundred miles, were
told how his friends, the English, had restored him
to health.

When they were about to retmrn to Pljrmouth,
Massasoit called together his most trusted coimsel-
lors, of whom Hobamock was one, and, in the
presence of all of them, directed Hobamock to ac-
quaint Winslow with the existence of a plot against
Weston's colony at Wessagusset and the settlement
at Plymouth. He informed them that the Massa-
chusetts Indians were the chief instigators of the
conspiracy and impUcated the natives of Nauset,

MASSASOIT 121

Paomet, Sokones, Mattachiest, Manomet, Agawam
and the Island of Capawack, most of whom were
his subjects, and among which were several of those
tribes whose sachems had subscribed the declarar
tion of allegiance to King James eighteen months
before.

It is significant that all the tribes impHcated were
those who Uved remote from Pokanoket, and, es-
pecially, that Corbitant was not openly mixed up
in the affair. That he was in sympathy with the
conspirators there is no doubt; and that he had en-
deavored to secm-e his Great Sachem's consent to
his making common cause with them is almost as
certain; and Massasoit's withholding of that con-
sent, notwithstanding his own serious grievance, is,
in itself, striking evidence of his exalted character.
The information given by him at that time was of
inestimable value to the colonists, as it enabled
their doughty Captain Standish to take the neces-
sary steps to put an end to the conspiracy and save
the colonies.

The man who accepts at its par value the saying
"There is no good Indian but a dead Indian," will
see in this conspiracy conclusive evidence of Indian
treachery and faithlessness, and will say that Massa-
soit, knowing of it, had silently acquiesced in it up
to the time of his restoration to health by Winslow,
revealing it then only from gratitude for his recovery.
To such critics, I would call attention to the fact
that he showed his superiority to the English in his
display of gratitude, for there is no evidence of any
manifestation of appreciation of favors received in

122 MASSASOIT

all their dealings with the Indians unless there was
attached to it the expectation of further favors;
and I would also call attention to the fact that the
colonists had themselves, only a few short months
before, protected a traitor to Massasoit in plain vio-
lation of the express provisions of the treaty, the
first breach; and all the natives imdoubtedy knew
of it. This act may well have caused the simple
natives to look upon the treaty as abrogated; and
to consider themselves released from all obligations
assiuned imder that or any subsequent stipulations
or agreements; and Massasoit had good cause to
share in such feeUng.

But for this illness of the Great Sachem, the
timely arrival of Winslow, and the efficacy of his
simple remedies to alleviate the suffering man and
arrest the progress of the disease, the colonists
might have perished at the hands of the conspira-
tors, and another awful example of savage treachery
been fiu-nished to the world; and the major part of
hvmianity would have accepted it at its face value,
without looking into the first great cause. Indeed,
the history of those times, as recorded by Bradford,
might never have seen the Ught of day, and without
his record, his failure to keep the faith with Massa^
soit might never have become known; for it is from
his own narrative, providentially preserved, that we
ascertain the story of the straining of the friendly
relations between the whites and the natives.

One incident, perhaps better than any other re-
corded, except that of his disclosure to Winslow of
the plot against the colonies, serves to illustrate the

MASSASOIT 123

extent to which the old chief was influenced by
gratitude for favors received and love for his friends.
In 1637 Arthur Peach, a former servant of Wins-
low's, with three accomplices, killed a Narragan-
sett Indian in cold blood. We shall see more of the
details in the chapter devoted to Miantonomo, and
for the piirpose of concluding the brief mention here
we wiU let Roger WiUiams tell the story. In his
letter to Governor Winthrop of the Massachusetts
Bay Colony, he says, "Ousamequin coming from
Plymouth told me that the four men were all guilty.
I answered but one; he replied true, one wounded
him, but all lay in wait two days and assisted. Also
that the principal must not die, for he was Mr.
Winslow's man; and also that the Indian was by
birth a Nipmuck man, so not worthy that any
other man should die for him."

Williams had been banished from Salem two
years before this and on his way to the Narragansett
country, "on foot and alone in the dead of winter,"
he had been kindly entertained by Massasoit at
Sowams; and they appear to have been on very
friendly terms thereafter.

I cannot refrain, in passing, from referring to one
little pleasantry of the Great Sachem at the ex-
pense of Winslow and his friends, and I will let the
old chronicler tell the story. "Mr. Winslow com-
ing in his bark from Connecticut to Narragansett,
— and he left it there, — and intending to return
by land, he went to Osamekin (Massasoit), the saga-
more, his old ally, who offered to conduct him home
to Plymouth. But before they took their journey.

124 MASSASOIT

Osamekin sent one of his men to Plymouth to tell
them that Mr. Winslow was dead; and directed
him to show how and where he was killed. Where-
upon there was much fear and sorrow at Plymouth.
The next day when Osamekin brought him home,
they asked him why he sent such a word etc. to
which he answered that it was their manner to do
so, that they might be more welcome when they
came home."

Perhaps the best tribute to the character of the
Great Sachem extant is contained in the lamenta-
tion of Hobamock as poured into the ears of Wins-
low and Harhden when on their way to visit him
in his sickness in 1623. He told them they would
never see his like again among the Indians, con-
tinuing, "He is no liar, he was not bloody and
cruel Uke other Indians; iu anger and passion he
was soon reclaimed, easy to be reconciled toward
such as had offended him, niled by reason in such
measure as he would not scorn the advice of mean
men; and that he governed his men better with few
strokes than others did with many, truly loving
where he loved; yea, he feared we had not a faith-
ful friend left among the Indians; showing how he
had oft times restrained their malice etc. continuing
a long speech, with such signs of lamentation and
unfeigned sorrow as would have made the hardest
heart relent."

Such was the tribute of one of his counsellors and
men of valor, who had Uved with him and imder his
rule, who had sat with him in coimcil and followed
him on the warpath.

MASSASOIT 125

Carver, Bradford, Winslow, Brewster, Standish,
in fact all the men who played a leading part in the
opening scene of the drama enacted upon the bleak
New England coast, passed from the stage of hu-
man action, leaving the old chief still directing the
affairs of his federation; but finally, he too laid
down the sceptre and was gathered to his fathers
in whose faith he died, having refused to accept the
white man's rehgion, though tmdoubtedly hearing it
preached from time to time. Whether his own in-
herent honesty revolted at the practices of the men
who professed a higher religion, we do not know;
and whether, in his declining years he read in the
encroachments of the men he had befriended, the
approaching doom of his own people is wholly a
matter of conjecture. The exact date of his de-
parture from earth to the land of Ponemah is not
recorded, nor does any one know where his remains
were biuded.* Drake says he was alive as late as
September, 1661, but a deed given by Wamsutta
dated April 8, 1661, conveying what is now the
town of Attleboro, begins "Know All Men by
These Presents that I, Wamsutta, aUas Alexander,
Chief Sachem of Pokanoket." This leaves some
doubt concerning the accuracy of Drake's conclu-
sion, although, like Passaconaway, Massasoit may
have smrendered the tomahawk of authority to his
eldest son before his death.

Gone were the white men who knew him in his
prime, when he governed his people "better with
few strokes than others with many," when he "re-
* See note at end of chapter.

126 MASSASOIT

strained their malice," and stood the imcompromis-
ing friend of the English, refusing to listen to the
appeals of his sub-chiefs to speak the word which
would have kindled a holocaust for the settlers.
Gone were the friends of his early days, who valued
his friendship and loved him for his native honesty
and SLQcerity. In their place had arisen another
generation, interested in him and his people only as
the possessors of land they coveted; and so far as
we know not a white man dropped a tear over the
cold form of the hero who had so often stood be-
tween them and destruction.

Of him General Fessenden well says, "This Chief
has never had full justice done to his character":
and I have not attempted anything like a complete
biography. Of his early Ufe nothing is known ex-
cept the glimpses revealed by the lamentation of
Hobamock and the boasting of Annawon; and even
subsequent to that time, there are so many voids,
so much that is left to be inferrred from the writings
of contemporary historians that the task is well
nigh impossible. My only purpose has been to call
attention to the quaUties he possessed in such a
way that "fuU justice may be done to his character."
So little is really known of his early life that his-
torians have not been able even to tell us his name,
that is, the name bestowed upon him at birth.
Massasoit and Ousamequin are the two names
handed down to us by the early writers; and each
of these has a multitude of variations. "Massa-
soyt" is the way Bradford has it in his first mention
of him, and undoubtedly fairly represents the sound

MASSASOIT 127

as he heard it from Samoset; and Prince says, "the
ancient people from their fathers in Plymouth pro-
nounce it Mas-sa-so-it."

Bicknell tells us that his true or tribal name was
Ousamequin, made up of ousa, yellow, and mequin,
feather, land that Massasoit means Great Sachem.
Others, IPeirce .among them, think that he changed
his name* from Massasoit to Ousamequin in 1632,
when he: was at war with the Narragansetts; while
still others beUeve he adopted the latter name on
the; death of his brother Quadequina. He does not
appear to have been known to the Pilgrims by this
name until long after his first appearance among
them, but this really signifies nothing, as it may
well be that they were in ignorance of his true name
for a long time, calling him by that which they
heard from the lips of Samoset; and that worthy
may have used his title and not his name in speak-
ing of him. So there is no real conflict between
Prince and Bicknell, and color is lent to the claim
of the latter by the weU known practice among the
Indians of naming their children for some tangible
object, either animate or inanimate, hence Yellow
Feather.

Whatever his mother may have called him, to
whatever name he may have responded when pro-
noimced by a fond father or by brothers and sisters,
Massasoit he is to history, and Great Sachem he was
in name and in fact; and as Massasoit his memory-
should be kept green, and his services to the colo-
nists, as recorded by them, perpetuated for the
generations yet to come; generations who will draw

128 MASSASOIT

inspiration and new courage and zeal in the cause
of freedom and humanity from the story of perils
encountered, and hardships endured and overcome
by the fathers, with the assistance of the friendly
natives imder Massasoit, in estabUshing upon these
shores a haven of civil and religious Uberty, "an
asylum for the oppressed of all nations."

It is to Massasoit that we pay our tribute of re-
spect and admiration for the manly virtues, the
heroic quaUties, that have endeared him to every
true American who has taken the pains to analyze
properly the records and acquaint himself with the
facts that go to make up the beginning of American
history.

Note. — I am indebted to Miss Virginia Baker of Warren,
R. "Ancient Lowams" for the information that a few years
ago an Indian burial place was excavated in that town, and
in one of the graves were found a feather war bonnet, the
remains of two fine muskets and a roll of gold lace. All these
things indicate the burial place of a man of high rank; and
the known fact that the red horseman's coat presented to
Massasoit by Winslow was trimmed with gold lace, leads to
the inquiry whether this was the grave of that great chief.

VI

MASSASOIT'S FAMILY

WHILE nothing definite is known of Massa-
Boit's ancestry, the fact that the Great Chief-
taiacy of the federation passed from him to his
eldest son and then from the latter to a younger
brother, together with what we know of the hered-
itary character of the position among the other
Algonquin groups and tribes, establishes beyond
question his connection with a line of kings.
Whether his father occupied the position before
him, or it was handed down collaterally, does not
definitely appear, nor is it of any special interest,
except as it might throw some light upon the cus-
toms and laws of descent of this particular federa-
tion, and as matter of genealogical research, which
possesses a fascination for most men. Who the man
is and whence he came are always questions that
arouse our interest in connection with those who
have occupied prominent positions in the affairs
of nations, not so much that it matters, for it is the
man that counts, but that we sometimes like to
speculate upon the conditions which have con-
tributed to the production of the character
which leaves its impress upon the history of the
times.

129

130 MASSASOIT

At the beginning of the white man's history in
New England, Massasoit was known to have had
two brothers living. Whether there were other
brothers or sisters does not appear. Of the two
brothers mentioned in history, Qtjadeqtjina accom-
panied him to Plymouth in March, 1621, and is
described as "a very proper, tall yoimg man of a
very modest and seemly coimtenance." He is
generally credited with being one of the two "Kings
of Pokanoket" whom Captain Dermer interviewed
at Nemasket in June, 1619, this conclusion un-
doubtedly being drawn from the fact that he appears
to have been Massasoit's companion at and after
the time of his first actual introduction to history.
He was probably next in age to Massasoit, as the
other brother does not appear to have been partic-
ularly noticed until a much later date.

The part played by him in the affairs of the tribe
or federation and in their deaUngs with their neigh-
bors and the whites seems to have been an inconse-
quential one, which leads to the conclusion that he
was simply a younger brother of the "King," and,
in consequence of his royal blood, a close counsellor
and frequent companion. He died within a few
years of the landing of the Pilgrims.

The second brother of the Great Sachem whose
name is variously written, as Akkompoin, Uncom-
pawen, Woonkaponehunt, and Vucumpowet, does
not appear prominently in history until King
Philip's war, in which he was one of that Great
Sachem's chief counsellors and war captains, al-
though his name appears with that of Philip on an

massasoit's family 131

agreement made with the Plymouth authorities on
August 6, 1662, where it is written under that of
"Philip, Sachem of Pokanoket," as "Vucumpowet,
unkell to the above said Sachem." As I shall not
have occasion to refer to him again, a word concern-
ing his position in the Chiefs' CoimcU will not be
out of place here. That he was an active partici-
pant in the affairs of the federation during Phihp's
reign is apparent from the fact that in addition to
the treaty or agreement of August 6, 1662, he also
signed with Philip two others, one at Taunton,
April 10, 1671, and the other at Plymouth, Septem-
ber 9, 1671. He is known to have been with Phihp
as coimsellor and captain in the war that bears the
name of the latter; and, in this capacity, he accom-
panied Philip on an expedition, started against
Plymouth in July, 1676. This project proving not
feasible, the party tmned back at Bridgewater, 8.nd
having felled a tree across a river in the line of their
march, to be used as a bridge, Akkompoin, who
was one of the last to attempt to cross, was shot by
the EngUsh who came up before he got away. This
was on July 31, 1676, and it was this same bridge
upon which Phihp was seen sitting the next day,
but escaped.

The known children of Massasoit were Wam-
sutta, Pometacom or Metacomet, Sunconewhew,
Amie, and possibly another daughter, as Phihp had
a sister who was captm-ed on the same day that her
uncle Akkompoin was shot, who may have been
Amie, although Peirce says there is no reason to
suppose it was she, and as she married Tuspaquin

132 MASSASOIT

who had a wife living in September, 1676, there is
very good reason for supposing that the one cap-
tured in July was not Amie,

Wamstjtta was first known as Mooanam, and
both be and his younger brother Pometacom were
given English names at the request of their father
who brought them to Plymouth, apparently for that
purpose, Wamsutta being then named Alexander
and Pometacom, PhiUp, for Alexander the Great of
Macedon and his father Phihp, respectively. Wam-
sutta succeeded his father upon the death of the
latter or possibly before. I have already called at-
tention to the fact that he signed himself "Chief
Sachem of the Pokanokets " some months before the
last date at which some writers assert that Massa-
soit was stiU alive. This may be explained on the
theory that the aged chief turned over the affairs
of the federation to his son in his old age. Before
he assiimed the active management of the tribal
affairs, he seems to have participated with his
father in the sales of land and the making of treaties,
whether in pursuit of some arrangement between
themselves by which Wamsutta became associated
in the government, or at the insistence of the Eng-
lish to guard against future contingencies, we do
not know. At any rate, we find the deed of Poka-
noket given in 1653 signed by both, to say nothing
of the renewal in 1639 of the original league of Mas-
sasoit and Carver, or of Roger Williams' declara-
tion that when he first came to the Narragansett
country, in 1636, Massasoit and Mooanam, his son,
gave him Seekonk, which the Plymouth colony

massasoit's family 133

claimed under their grant from the authorities in
England, who, of course, had no title to it.

In 1662, the government at Plymouth became
suspicious of Wamsutta, and sent Captain Thomas
Willett to investigate the truth of rumors that had
reached them to the effect that the sachem was
attempting to secure the cooperation of the Narra-
gansetts in a revolt which he was planning against
the whites. WiUett was told by Wamsutta that the
whole story was a fabrication of the Narragansetts
to injm-e him and bis people with the English. He
agreed to attend the next session of the Coiirt at
Plymouth, but did not put in an appearance. The
colonists afterwards concluded from some rumors
that came to them that he was on a visit to the
Narragansett country, and this added to their sus-
picions, they apparently assiuning the authority to
say when and where he should move, and never giv-
ing him or any of his race credit for visiting another
friendly tribe for any other purpose than to stir up
trouble for them. The government then sent
Major Winslow, the commandant of the colonial
miUtia, to bring him to Plymouth, just as though he
was a common criminal, and they had jurisdiction
over him.

Like his father before him and his brother who
followed him in the great chieftaincy, Wamsutta
had himting camps at various places in what re-
mained of his domain. There is known to have
been one in what is now Rajrnham, one at Titicut,
and one on the shore of Munponset Pond in HaUf ax.
It was at the latter that Major Winslow found him

134 MASSASOIT

with a number of his warriors at breakfast with their
guns outside. Of the three early writers who re-
late this incident, two say he had eighty men with
him, and the other says eight. Although apprised
of the approach of the Enghsh, he made no attempt
to secure his arms or to escape, but remained quietly
at his repast, which ought to have been enough to
disarm the suspicion of any but an evil-minded man
looking for trouble; but not Winslow. He took the
gims and, entering the lodge, demanded that Wam-
sutta go with him to Plymouth, a virtual prisoner,
to answer to nothing, to men who had no authority
over him. He refused, whereupon Winslow, pmrsu-
ing the usual high-handed methods of the day,
presented a loaded pistol to his breast threatening
him with instant death if he persisted in his refusaF.
After a parley with his people, he submitted, and
they took up the journey, his family accompanying
him. He was offered a horse, but declined, saying
if the women and children could walk, he could.
The party spent the night at Major Winslow's
house in Duxbury, where Wamsutta was stricken
with a raging fever, brought on, no doubt, by the
outrages that the whites had perpetrated upon him.
He was not their subject, but was the proud ruler of
an independent people, and his spirit was broken
by the inhumanity of the men who could not have
secured a foothold upon the soil without the protec-
tion afforded them by his father. Thus are the
honest mistakes of men visited upon their children.
Wamsutta's people begged to be allowed to take
him to his home, which the English in their mag-

massasoit's family 135

nanimity permitted on condition that they would
return him to Plymouth when he had recovered.
He was called to a Higher Tribunal, however, and
let us hope a more just and merciful one, for he died
while descending a river in his canoe. Thus passed
the eldest son of the defender of the colonies, and
thus began King Phihp's war by the invasion of
Wampanoag territory by armed men, and the cap-
ture of the king of the country at the point of a
loaded pistol; and yet, there are men even now, who
tell us that King Philip started the trouble.

Wamsutta married Tatapanmn, otherwise called
Weetamo, and known to history as the "Squaw
Sachem of the Pocassets." She is believed to have
been the daughter of Corbitant; and in the war
which resulted from the series of outrages of which
the arrest and moral murder of her husband was the
culmination, she followed the fortunes of her brother-
in-law Philip, twice her brother-in-law in fact, for
Philip married her sister, Wootonekanuske. She
was a widow when Wamsutta married her, and, after
his death, she married a third husband about
whom nothing is known except his name, Queque-
quanchett. She subsequently married a foiuiih,
Petononowit, whom she left in consequence of his
haviQg espoused the English cause; and she then
formed a liaison with a young Narragansett Sa-
chem, Quinapen, one of Phihp's captains. She was
drowned by the breaking up of a raft near Metta-
poisett in August, 1676. Word had reached her
that the EngUsh forces were approaching, and there
being no canoes available, she attempted to escape

136 MASSASOIT

on an improvised raft which was not strong enough
to withstand the buffeting of the seas. Her body
was recovered by the English who hiunanely cut off
her head and exposed it on a pole at Taunton,
where, as one of their eminent divines scofl&ngly
informs us, it was seen by some of her people who
had been taken prisoner, who set up a lamentation
saying it "was the head of their queen." Little
did the poor mourners know the fate that was in
store for them, or they might have raised a prayer
to the Great Spirit to be allowed to share in that
of then- "Queen." Slavery, worse than death, "the
store of rods forfree born backs and stocks for free
bom feet," was the lot reserved for them by their
Christian captors.

No doubt the apologists for the colonists will say
that Weetamo should not have joined in PhiUp's
nefarious scheme. She had seen her people robbed
of their inheritance, their means of seciu-ing a live-
lihood taken away under the pretence of purchase,
her husband, with nothing proved against him,
dying at the hands of the men whose existence had
depended upon the friendship of his father, as truly
as though he had been given the deadly poison
which his people always believed was administered
to him; but in spite of all this, she should have
kissed the hand that smote her.

PoMETACOM, Massasoit's second son and Wam-
sutta's successor when the latter died in 1662,
played such an important part in the affairs between
the Indians and theu- oppressors that a separate
chapter will be devoted to him and his captains.

massasoit's family 137

SuNCONEWHEw was the third son of Massasoit.
But little is known of him, his name appearing but
once of which I find any mention in connection with
the so-called sale of lands to the Enghsh, and that
with Philip's on a deed confirming the sale of Re-
hoboth by Massasoit in 1641, the confirmatory deed
bearing date March 30, 1668. It is said that Philip
had a brother killed July 18, 1775, who was a great
captain and had been educated at Harvard College.
As there is no record of any other sons of Massasoit
except these three, this was undoubtedly Suncone-
whew.

Amie, the only daughter of Massasoit of whom
anything definite is known, married Tuspaquin of
Assawamsett, conmionly called the "Black Sa-
chem." Their oldest son, William Tuspaquin, fol-
lowed his father in fighting for his people in IQng
Phihp's war, in the early part of which he met his
death. Their second son is said to have been a
noted warrior, and to have had a part of his jaw
bone shot away in battle. We are left in doubt
concerning the part he played in the war, whether
he was fighting with his own people or with the
English. He is mentioned as a member of Captain
James Church's company; and it is reported that
he died suddenly after the war while sitting in his
wigwam. These two statements, however, are not
entirely irreconcilable with the supposition that he
may have been faithful to his own people, as he
might have joined Captain Church's company after
the war; although how he and his family escaped
slavery is almost beyond comprehension; or how he

138 MASSASOIT

came to die suddenly while sitting in his wigwam;
for while the men of note, the chiefs and sons of
chiefs who followed PhiUp, died suddenly, it was not
while sitting in their wigwams.

There is one fact that lends color to the theory
that he followed the fortunes of his Great Chief as
did his father and elder brother, and that is the in-
dignation of some of his children when their brother,
Benjamin Tuspaquin, second, married Assawetough,
or Mercy Felix, the daughter of John Sassamon,
whom they regarded as a traitor to his people.

The only known descendants of Massasoit now
living trace their lineage through this son of his
daughter, Amie.

In 1917, the General Court of Massachusetts
passed the following:

"kesolve granting annuities to teewe-
leema mitchell and her two sisters, of
the wampanoag tribe of indians.

Resolved, That there shall be paid an-
nually from the treasury of the common-
wealth, in equal quarterly installments from
the first day of December, nineteen himdred
and sixteen, the sum of one hundred dollars
each to Teeweleema Mitchell, Wootone-
kanuske Mitchell, and Zeriah Robinson,
three sisters, aged and needy Indian women
of the Wampanoag tribe, residents of Lake-
ville, who are descendants of King Philip's
sister, and descendants of Massasoit. (Ap-
proved February 21, 1917.)"

massasoit's family 139

General Ebenezer W. Peirce in his "Indian His-
tory, Biography and "Genealogy" traces the descent
of these three women from Benjamin Tuspaquin,
giving names in each successive generation, and men-
tioning another sister, Emma J., who married Jacob
C. Safford and had two children living at the time
of the writiQg of his book in 1878. I am recently in
receipt of a communication from Charlotte L.
Mitchell, the Wootonekanuske named in the resolve
quoted above, in answer to an inquiry, in which
she writes that one of these children, Helen G. Saf-
ford is stiU Hving, but is confined in a hospital for
the insane. She also speaks of her own brother
Alonzo as still living, urmiarried and ux feeble
health. Of the three annuitants above named, Zer-
viah Robinson was bom (Mitchell) June 17, 1828,
Teeweleema (known as Meliada) April 11, 1836, and
Wootonekanuske (known as Charlotte L.), my cor-
respondent, November 2, 1848.

So if these five are all the hving descendants of
Massasoit, as Peirce asserts, the royal hne will be-
come extinct in the next generation.

In 1917, the General Court of Massachusetts also
passed the following:

"eesolve to authorize the payment of
an annuity to fannie s. butler through
the mayor op the city op boston.

Resolved, That there be allowed and paid
out of the treasury of the Commonwealth
to the mayor of the city of Boston an an-
nuity of two hundred and fifty dollars, to

140 MASSASOIT

be expended by the mayor for the benefit of
Fannie S. Butler, granddaughter of the late
Sylvia Sepit Thomas and daughter of the
late Mary Angeline Thomas Butler, mem-
bers of the Wampanoag tribe of Indians, for
the rest of her natural life, beginning with
the first day of December in the year nine- .
teen himdred and sixteen, and payable in
equal quarterly instalments.

Chapter one hundred and seventeen of
the resolves of the year nineteen himdred
and fourteen is hereby repealed. (Approved
February 17, 1917.)"

This was an increase in an annuity first granted
in 1914, at which time the press spoke of the an-
nuitant as a descendant of Massasoit, and the last
of the Wampanoags. That she is a descendant of
Massasoit is contrary to the conclusion of Peirce,
and evidently was not satisfactorily established be-
fore the Committee of the Legislature which con-
sidered the matter, otherwise they would have been
likely to set out that fact, as they did in the case
of the Mitchell family. Miss Mitchell, in her letter
to me, says that Fannie S. Butler is not of the
family. That she is not, as was stated in the news-
papers of that day, the last of the Wampanoags, is
conclusively shown.

My correspondent may, however, have followed
the same family traditions that guided Peirce in his
writings, which fail to take account of the possibility
of other branches of the Benjamin Tuspaquin

massasoit's family 141

family. This writer took great pains to trace the
descent of this particular branch, but appears to
have been content to estabUsh their lineage and
rest there. He names the four children of Benja-
min, as Esther, Hannah, Mary and Benjamin
second.

Esther married Tobias Sampson, a "praying In-
dian" who lived on the reservation set off by re-
solve of the General Court of Massachusetts in
1701, and is said to have died without issue. There
was an Esther Sampson living on the reservation in
1764, but whether the same or another of the same
name is not clear, although there is some reason for
believing that it was not Benjamin's daughter.

Hannah married and had two children, neither of
whom married.

Mary married Isaac Sissel and had three chil-
dren, Mary, Mercy and Arabella. The family tra-
dition says that two of them died in infancy; but
in 1764, Mary and Mercy were on the reservation.
This leaves only Arabella unaccoimted for; and it
is so easy to drop a link in the attempts to pass
such matters down from generation to generation
that it may well be that there were two children of
Isaac and Mary Sissel who died in infancy, besides
these three; and that Arabella, like Mary and
Mercy, may have lived to womanhood, but unlike
them, she may have married and left progeny who,
through the long lapse of time and by reason of the
remoteness of the relationship, may have been lost
sight of by those who attempt to hand down tradi-
tions without complete records.

142 MASSASOIT

Benjamin second, as I have at least suggested if
not plainly stated, married Assawetough, a daugh-
ter of John Sassamon, the Indian alleged to have
been murdered for disclosing to the whites King
PhiUp's plan for a general uprising among the In-
dians; and who, according to tradition, was the
same man who had given to him for his services in
the Pequot war, and as his share of the spoils of
that war, a "young httle squaw," whom he after-
wards married and who is said to be a daughter of
Sassacus. If the famUy tradition which connects
John Sassamon with the Massachusetts Indian of a
somewhat similar name who served with the Eng-
Ush in the war against Sassacus is reliable, it will be
seen that this "young Httle squaw" became the
mother of Assawetough or Mercy Felix, as she
appears in history and tradition; and that their
great grandchildren, the Mitchell family of Lake-
ville, are descended in the direct line, not only from
Massasoit, but also from Sassacus, the Pequot
Chief; for Benjamin and Mercy had one daughter,
named Lydia, who married an Indian named
Walmsley and had five children.

Four of these do not appear in the pages of any
known history, biography or genealogy; nor do any
pubUc records, so far as known, indicate what be-
came of them. Whether they married and have
descendants Uving is not definitely known, not-
withstanding the "family tradition."

The fifth, Paul, had seven children, four of whom
are not mentioned beyond their names; two of
whom are mentioned by Peirce as having married,

massasoit's family 143

and are left there; and the other, Phebe, was the
mother of the annuitants named in the first of the
resolves quoted above. The records of those early
days were not as complete as those of today; and
it may well be that some of these whom I have men-
tioned have handed down the blood of the Great
Sachem, the "friend of white men," to succeeding
generations.

In 1701, the General Comt of Massachusetts set
aside a tract of land in what was then Freetown
but is now a part of Fall River, as a reservation for
the friendly Indians, and of the twenty-five lots
into which this reservation was divided, four, num-
bered 19, 20, 21, and 22, were assigned to the lineal
descendants of Benjamin Tuspaquin. At the first
simrey of these lots in 1707, Isaac Sissel received as
his share lot No. 20. In 1764, on the second sur-
vey, this lot was in possession of his daughters,
Mercy and Mary. At this second survey, lot No.
19 was found to be in possession of "Sarah Squin
and Esther Sampson," said to be grandchildren of
Benjamin Squamnaway.

The ease with which Tuspaquin could be con-
tracted to Squin, together with the fact that these
two women were occupjdng a lot assigned to the
descendants of Tuspaquin, leads to the conclusion
that Benjamin Squamnaway was Benjamin Tuspa-
quin. The only Esther Sampson mentioned in
history in connection with the descendants of Mas-
sasoit, outside of this reference, was the daughter of
Benjamin Tuspaquin, and she died childless. It is
possible, of course, that the Esther Sampson who

144 MASSASOIT

was on that lot in 1764 was Benjamin Tuspaquin's
daughter and not his granddaughter; but this is
extremely doubtful, for in that case she would be
the sister of Benjamin Tuspaquin second who mar-
ried the daughter of John Sassamon and the yovmg
little squaw whom he had given to him at the con-
clusion of the Pequot war, one hundred and twenty-
seven years before, and Sassamon had been dead
ninety years at the time of this second survey of the
lots.

However it may be, there is a numerous family in
Fall River and vicinity who, through an old family
tradition, claim descent from the Esther Sampson
who resided on the reservation in 1764. If this
tradition is well founded, and if "Sarah Squin and
Esther Sampson" were granddaughters of Benjamin
Tuspaquin, it will be readily seen that this family of
which I write are lineal descendants of Massasoit.
To all appearances they are pure whites, although
there is another strain of Indian blood nmning
through the family besides the one I have men-
tioned.

I speak of this matter, not for the purpose of
establishing the claim of any particular persons to
the honor of the royal blood of the house of Massa-
soit, as it will be noticed that I have carefully re-
frained from any mention of names; but to call
attention to the ease with which a people may be
lost in so far as its original identity is concerned, and
yet may live on and on through the intermingling of
its blood with that of other races, with the result
that after a few generations all direct trace of it is

massasoit's family 145

lost by reason of the incompleteness of the early
records. So it may well be that the blood of Mas-
sasoit and other noted warriors and chiefs of the
early days flows in the veins of men who are them-
selves ignorant of the fact.

VII

SAMOSET, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK

IT is doubtful if more welcome words of greeting
ever fell on mortal ears than those that broke
the startled air of Leyden Street in Plymouth on the
sixteenth day of March, 1621, when the little group
of weary Pilgrims gathered there heard from the
Ups of Samoset those words which have gone ringing
down the ages as the greeting of the new world to
the voyagers from the old. They had crossed a
storm-swept sea, had been attacked by the natives
at Nauset, and finally had effected a landing at Ply-
mouth, the "Plimoth on Captain John Smith's
map." Here they had endured the hardships of a
severe New England winter, and had suffered from
the ravages of disease which had greatly reduced
their niraxbers. They had not been molested by
the Indians, although in the early spring they had
seen some of them prowUng about the settlement,
and on one occasion, some tools had been stolen
while the workmen were at dinner. An air of un-
certainty pervaded the place, and the appearance of
the natives must have recalled with some misgiving
the reception accorded them at Nauset. They had
no reason to expect any different greeting here, and
the "Welcome, Englishmen" from the lips of Samo-
146

SAMOSET, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK 147

set must have sounded like the "benediction that
follows after the prayer."

Samosbt told them he was not of these parts, but
from Moratiggon, "eastward a day's sail with a
great wind, and five days by land." He also told
them that the name of the place where they had
landed was Patuxet, and that the people who had
occupied it had been swept away by a pestilence
foin- years before. He told them about Squanto, a
native of the place, who had been carried away
across the water and could speak Enghsh, and about
a Great Sachem "Massasojdie," or "the Massa-
soits," as one writer puts it, who lived to the west,
and had sixty warriors vmder him. After partaking
of their hospitality for the night, he went away
saying he would bring Massasoit. That he did not
go to Sowams, forty miles distant, is certain, for he
appeared again the same day, and Massasoit did not
come to Plymouth until the twenty-second. It is
probable that the Indians who had been seen about
the place were Nemaskets, a tribe occupying the
territory arotmd what is now Middleboro, and
subject to Massasoit, or possibly Massachusetts
Indians; and that some of these, at Samoset's
suggestion, conveyed the intelhgence to Sowams,
Massasoit's village, that the English had encamped
upon the himting grounds of his extinct tribe.
When Samoset retiu:ned on the seventeenth, he
brought five others with him, and they returned
aU the tools that had been stolen.

Samoset plays but little part in the history of the
colony from that time, but his name is a household

148 MASSASOIT

word in New England to this day, and his message
to the worn and weary Pilgrims is one of the great
outstanding incidents in the early settlement which
will be taught to our children as long as American
history cherishes the tradition of the men who laid
its foundations.

He was a sagamore of "Moratiggon" (Monhe-
gan, off the coast of Maine), closely associated with
the Pemaquids, if not of them; and he told the Ply-
mouth settlers of the fishing there and conducted
their fishing boats to the grounds. He had picked
up a little English from the crews of ships that had
been there to fish. What errand or mission brought
him to the territory of the Wampanoags in that
early spring of 1621 will never be definitely known;
but his casual presence at that time renders his
name coeval with our history, and gives him a last-
ing place in the annals of New England. Of his
subsequent life little is known except that historians
have coimected him prominently with the territory
around Pemaquid, Maine, and identify him with
Captain John Somerset, who signed a deed of land
in that vicinity on July 15, 1625.

Squanto, whom Samoset mentioned as one who
had been to England, and could speak English better
than he could, was a Patuxet. His name is given as
Tisquantvim by many early writers, and that is prob-
ably his true name, it being shortened by the Eng-
lish to that by which he is known. As we have
already seen, he was one of the twenty-seven natives
whom Captain Thomsis Hunt had carried away and
sold into slavery in 1614. After his release he had

SAMOSET, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK 149

been taken to England where he had lived for some
time with a man named Slaine, and had apparently-
been kindly treated, probably with a view to utiliz-
ing his knowledge of the New World in future trad-
ing expeditions. He had learned some English, and
came back to this country with Captain Thomas
Dermer either in 1619 or on an earlier voyage.
Some writers say that upon his return he became a
great chief, but, if this is true, it must have been
prior to 1617, as his tribe was destroyed by the
plague in that year. He was interpreter for Cap-
tain Dermer when the latter met two "Kings
of Pokanoket" at "Nummastaquit" (Nemasket).
Mourt, in his Relations, speaks of him as "the only
native of Patuxet where we now inhabit," but Brad-
ford says, " He was a native of this place and scarce
any left aUve besides him selfe." The latter state-
ment is imdoubtedly the correct one, as the same
writer, in speaking of an episode that occurred the
following year, mentions members of his family.
There is no doubt that he acted as interpreter
between Governor Carver and Massasoit at the
memorable first interview of the Great Sachem with
the Governor, and, from that time imtil his death,
he was of invaluable service to the English.

Perhaps the best estimate of the value of his
services may be made by a consideration of what
Bradford says about the matter: "He directed them
how to set their come, wher to take fish, and to pro-
cure other conunodities, was also a pilott to bring
them to unknown places for their profitt, and never
left them till he dyed." On another occasion he

150 MASSASOIT

wrote: "He showed them both the maner how to
set it (corn) and after how to dress and tend it.
Also he tould them except they gott fish and set
with it (in these old groimds) it would come to noth-
ing, and he showed them that in the middle of April
they should have store enough come up the brooke,
by which they begane to build, and taught, them
how to take it," Winslow, too, adds a word along
the same line. He says: "We set some twentie
acres of corn and sowed some six acres of barley and
pease, and according to the manner of the Indians,
we manured our ground with Herings or rather
Shadds, which we have in great abundance and take
with great ease at our doores." Captain John
Smith had previously alluded to the Indian method
of fertihzLng their corn, saying, "they stick at every
plant of corne, a herring or two; which cometh in
that season in such abundance, they may take more
than they know what to doe with." Squanto con-
tinued with the EngUsh from the time of his first
introduction to them by Samoset, adopted their
religion, and died of a sudden sickness accompanied
with bleeding at the nose, a common malady among
the natives, while on a trading expedition to Cape
Cod with Governor Bradford in September, 1622.

The value of his services is almost beyond esti-
mate, and they appear to have been appreciated at
their full worth by the early settlers. Like the rest
of his race, he seems to have been ambitious and
jealous, his jealousy manifesting itself principally
towards Hobamock; and his ambitious designs were
believed by the authorities to embrace the estab-

SAMOSBT, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK 151

lishment of a powerful federation of Indians with
himself at its head. Some further reference will be
made to these traits of his character in connection
with his relations with Hobamock, another early-
friend and constant assistant to the English in their
hunting, fishing and trading expeditions.

Hobamock has, by his own statement, given us a
very definite idea of his position in his tribe. In
his defence of Massasoit in 1622, he said he was a
"paniese," that is one of Massasoit's "chiefest cham-
pions or men of valor." He was not only a Wam-
panoag, but a Pokanoket, a member of the ruling
tribe in the federation, and of the Great Sachem's
coimcil. He was among those who gathered at his
bedside when he was thought to be djdng in March,
1623, and the one whom Massasoit, in the presence
of aU his coimsellors, charged to tell Winslow about
the plot against the whites. He came to Plymouth
shortly after the episode of the lost John Billington,
as already related, and may have been the messenger
sent by Massasoit to teU the settlers where BiUing-
ton was. He had not been long with them when
he showed his fidelity to his Great Chief and to the
men whom he had befriended. In August, 1621,
scarcely a month after he came to the English, Cor-
bitant of Pocasset, who appears to have been a
mischief maker, waylaid him and Squanto in a
house at Nemasket, and threatened them, as Brad-
ford says, "for no other cause than that they were
friendly to the English and serviceable to them."
Hobamock succeeded in making his escape and
hastened to Plymouth, a distance of fifteen or six-

152 MASSASOIT

teen miles. Here he told the governor of Squanto's
pHght and a force of fourteen men was sent to rescue
Squanto if he was alive, or to punish Corbitant, if
he had been killed. On arriving at the house where
they had been captured, the whites surrounded it,
but soon learned that Squanto was alive, having
been threatened only, and that Corbitant had gone
away in the night, probably through fear of the con-
sequences that were likely to foUow his attempt to
remove or, at least, to frighten the men who were
of so much service to the English, once the knowl-
edge of his scheme became known to the latter, as
he well knew it would be from the moment that
Hobamock broke away from him.

Thus we see that Hobamock's first notable serv-
ice to the settlers was in saving to them "their
tongue," as Corbitant called Squanto, and in doing
this he also saved the life of the man who soon
after began his plottings, not only against the one
who had saved him, but also apparently against the
Great Sachem of both of them. Hobamock was
probably as much concerned in doing what he be-
lieved would be the will of his chief in this matter,
as in saving Squanto or aiding the English, for
knowing of Massasoit's friendship for them, he un-
doubtedly felt that he would not coimtenance this
outrage against their friend and helper. Besides,
there is good reason for believing that Corbitant
was an ambitious chief and if a favorable opportu-
nity arose for displacing Massasoit as the head of
the federation without danger of a miscarriage of
his schemes, he would not put it aside. In any

SAMOSET, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK 153

attempt of this sort, he would have to reckon with
the English, and so they must first be rendered
powerless. Whatever may have been Hobamock's
motives, his act resulted in much good to the col-
onists.

Hobamock remained with them through the win-
ter and in the spring when they were fitting out their
shaUop to go to Massachusetts Bay to trade with
the Indians there, in accordance with an assurance
they had previously given them to do so, "Hoba-
mock told them of rumors he had that they (the
Massachusetts) were joined with the Narragansetts
and might betray them if they were not careful."
He also gave them a hint of some jealousy manifested
by Squanto towards him, which he had gathered
from whisperings between the former and other
Indians. That his suspicions of Squanto in this
direction were well foimded was soon demonstrated,
for, notwithstanding the misgivings aroused by these
rumors, they sent the shallop away with both
Squanto and Hobamock on board, deeming it best
to send them both along on account of this jealousy.
They had hardly got imder way when an Indian of
Squanto's family, as Bradford says, came running in,
"in seeming great fear," and told them that the
Narragansetts and, he thought, Massasoit were com-
ing against them, and he got away to tell them, not
without danger. He said there was a gathering at
Nemasket and that he had received a blow for speak-
ing for the English, and his face was wounded. He
told them the Indians were determined to take
advantage of Captain Standish's absence on the

154 MASSASOIT

trading expedition to assault the town. The gov-
ernor called the men to arms and fired a gun to re-
call the shallop. They had not got beyond reach
of the signal and retm-ned, but no Indians appeared.
It was on this occasion that Hobamock protested
his confidence in Massasoit, saying "flatly that it
was false" and that he "presumed he would never
have undertaken any such act without his privity,
it being the manner amongst them not to undertake
such enterprises without the advice and furtherance
of men of his rank. The governor repUed that he
should be sorry that any cause of war should arise
with any of the savages, but especially Massaso-
wat, not that he feared him more than the rest, but
that his love more exceeded toward him than any."
Hobamock rephed, "there was no cause for distrust
and therefore he should do well to continue his
affections." I have quoted freely from Winslow's
account of this episode because it illustrates Squan-
to's plotting and Hobamock's confidence in his chief
in the manner of one who saw the entire proceeding.
That Hobamock's faith was justified soon appeared.
The governor caused him to send his wife to So-
wams privately to see what she could learn of the
situation, "pretending other occasion, but nothing
was found and all was quiet," as Bradford relates.
This woman finding no indication of anything
unusual among the Pokanokets told Massasoit of
Squanto's accusations. Naturally, "Massasoit took
offence and came to Plymouth to clear himself and
showed his anger towards Tisquantum." After his
return to his own village he sent a messenger to

SAMOSET, SQXJANTO AND HOBAMOCK 155

Governor Bradford, "entreating him to give way
to the death of Tisquantum who had so much abused
him." Bradford was reluctant to lose the services
of so valuable a man, and urged his usefulness as
an interpreter, but Massasoit remained obdurate,
and demanded Squanto as a "subject whom the
governor could not retain without violating the
treaty." He also offered many beaver skins for
Bradford's consent, the messengers saying, "their
Sachem had sent his own knife and them therewith
to cut off his head and hands and bring them to
him."

The governor sent for Squanto, who, on being
confronted with the accusation against him, charged
Hobamock with being the cause of his overthrow;
but said he would abide by the governor's decision
although he knew what his fate would be if re-
turned to Massasoit. Wiaslow says the governor
was about to give him up when a boat appeared at
sea, and being fearful of the French, he told the
Indians, "he would first know what boat that was
ere he would deliver him into their custody (not
knowing whether there was a combination of
French and Indians). Mad with rage and im-
patient at delay the messengers departed in great
heat." This is Winslow's account, and to us, look-
ing at it after the lapse of three hundred years, the
"great heat" causes no surprise. The Indians were
not so silly as not to see through the subterfuge,
and to read Bradford's determination to use every
excuse and employ every pretended reason that
presented itself for not complying with the terms

166 MASSASOIT

of the treaty, when it was to his disadvantage to
live up to its obUgations.

The demand was not renewed, and Squanto was
saved, but a marked coolness on the part of Massa-
soit soon manifested itself and caused the settlers
some uneasiness. As I have already suggested, the
offence of Squanto, although committed in the ter-
ritory over which the colonists had jurisdiction, was
against his own Great Sachem. He was a subject
of Massasoit. The only jurisdiction the Enghsh
had over him was to punish acts against themselves.
By Carver's pact he should have been delivered to
his own people to be dealt with by them according
to theu" own customs in such cases. Bradford recog-
nizes this fact, and makes no attempt to justify his
refusal; and Winslow tells us the governor was
about to give him up when a boat appeared ia the
harbor, and Bradford seized upon that as an ex-
cuse for ftirther delaying Massasoit's messengers.
Squanto also knew that he ought to be turned over
to his own people and stoically consented to that
course, if the governor should so decide. To Mas-
sasoit and his messengers Bradford only argued his
usefulness, which was unquestionably great, and the
governor's evasiveness nearly cost the colony the
friendship of Massasoit. That Squanto was actu-
ated by his own selfish and ambitious designs was
apparent to the authorities; for about this time in
consequence of the incident of the spring of 1622,
and Hobamock's report of "many secret passages
between Squanto and other Indians," as well as
other things that came to their attention, Bradford

8AM0SET, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK 157

says: "They began to see that Tisquantum sought
his owne ends and plaid his owne game, by putting
the Indians iu fear, and drawing gifts from them
to enrich himself e; making them beheve he could
stir up war against whom he would and make peace
for whom he would. Yea, he made them beUeve
they kept the plague buried in the grovmd and
could send it amongst whom they would, which did
much terrifie the Indians, and made them depend
more on him, and seeke more to him than to Massa-
soyte; which procured him envye, and had like to
have cost him his life. For after the discovery of
his practices, Massasoit sought it both privately and
openly; which ca\ised him to stick close to the
English, and never durst goe from them till he
dyed."

Fully appreciating the value of Squanto's assist-
ance to the people of Plymouth, the searcher after
truth cannot ignore the fact that his ambitious
scheming probably came near to costing them their
hves. The plot of the Massachusetts and other
tribes in the spring of 1623 which was foiled by
Standish and his indomitable eight, would un-
doubtedly not have been revealed but for Massa-
soit's restoration to health at the hands of Winslow,
and, if not nipped in the bud, would have been quite
likely to have been attended with success. Massa-
soit's failure to disclose it earUer was clearly due to
a doubt on his part of the sincerity of the professed
friendship of the English, and that doubt was
aroused by the conduct of the governor in protecting
Squanto after his perfidy to his Great Sachem be-

158 MASSASOIT

came known, contrary to the terms of Carver's and
Massasoit's treaty. Squanto died before the full
effect of his conduct, or before the possible effect of
it became known, and sleeps in the grave where
white men laid him with Christian rites. There let
him rest, and let us not too severely criticise him.
He was but following the dictates of a trait of hu-
man character, that, whUe inordinately developed
in the race of American Indians, is conamon to all.
Shakespeare makes Cardinal Wolsey say to his de-
voted follower, " Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away
ambition. By that sin fell the angels. How then
can mortal man hope to win by it?" We do not
agree with this thought, but rather, how can mortal
man win without it? The only difficulty is to direct
it in the right paths and keep it within proper
bounds. Neither of these was Squanto able to do.
In the words of Parkman, let us attribute his act to
the working of "the ordinary instincts of hmnanity"
which "should be classed with the other enigmas of
the fathomless heart."

Din-ing the brief space of his life after the
discovery of his schemes, the English took full
advantage of this jealousy between hun and Hoba-
mock to seciu-e better service from both by playing
them against each other, — the governor " seeming to
countenance one and Standish the other."

Like Squanto, we are told that Hobamock re-
mained with the English until he died. The last
mention made of him by Bradford is in connection
with the Day of Hiuniliation in July, 1623. Like
Squanto, too, he was of invaluable assistance to the

SAMOSET, SQUANTO AND HOBAMOCK 159

English, unquestionably of much greater service in
their trading expeditions among the tribes on the
cape and around Massachusetts Bay, by reason of
his rank and standing in his own tribe, than he
could otherwise have been, the mere fact that he
was one of Massasoit's "chiefest men of valor" and
war counsellors, adding to his prestige and the
standing of the men for whom he virtually stood
sponsor.

Thus passed from the stage three men whose
activities had such a marked influence upon the
earhest Buccessful attempt at colonization in New
England that their names and deeds are known to
thousands of American children who probably could
not name the first three governors of the Plymouth
Colony.

VIII

THE NARRAGANSETTS

WHEN Winslow and Hopkins visited Sowams in
July, 1621, they learned from the Pokanokets
that across the bay lived a powerful federation that
had not been touched by the plague. We find them
sometimes referred to by early writers as Narrow-
hansetts, which perhaps was as nearly correct as the
Englishman who heard the name spoken could re-
produce the sound. The spelling was subsequently
changed to Nariganset and finally to Narragansett,
and it is by this latter name that they are known
to history. We are told, on authority as rehable
as any we have concerning the Indian tribes of New
England, that they numbered twenty or twenty-five
thousand with a war strength of from three to five
thousand, and occupied all the territory westerly
from Narragansett Bay and Providence River to
the Pequot country, which extended to Wecapoag
about five or six miles east of the Paucatuc River,
the dividing line between Connecticut and Rhode
Island.

The Narragansetts formed the second of the five
great federations of New England Indians as enu-
merated by Gookin, and dignified by Drake with the
designation Great Sachemries. They had un-
160

THE NARRAGANSETTS 161

doubtedly been visited by the English before 1621;
some writers, as we have abeady seen, claiming that
the episode of Captain Waymouth with the Indians
in 1605, as related by Rofier, occurred in the Narra-
gansett country. The French frequented the bay
for fishing according to the information given to
Winslow by the people of Sowams, and so they
were not unacquainted with the whites.

Hutchinson says Tashtussuch was their Chief
Sachem when the English arrived. If this is true
he did not long remain in that position after their
arrival, his grandson Canonicus being at the head
of the federation In the summer of 1621. It is re-
lated of Tashtussuch that he had two children, a son
and a daughter, and, being vmable to match them
according to their station and dignity, he joined
them in marriage. Four sons were born of this
union of whom Canonicus was the oldest, and Mas-
cus, the father of Miantonomo, the youngest.
Miantonomo succeeded his uncle Canonicus, and,
after his murder on Sachem's Plain, he was in turn
succeeded by his brother Pessacus, who was said to
have been only twenty years old when he assumed
the chieftaincy. Pessacus was succeeded by Mian-
tonomo's son Canonchet who was the leader of the
federation in King Philip's war, and who met the
same fate as his father. By what law of descent
the chieftaincy passed from Miantonomo to his
brother and then back to his own line again, we do
not know; imless the line was simply preserved for
Miantonomo's son by some sort of regency during
his minority; or unless the Great Chieftaincy was

162 MASSASOIT

an elective position, or a great Sachem had the
power to name his successor, both of which sugges-
tions will hereafter receive further consideration.

Pessacus is probably better known to history as
Canonicus, his appearance under that name after
the death of the first Canonicus, and especially
after the death of Miantonomo, leading to some
confusion of him with his grandfather by those who
read only superficially. Another son of Mascus
was Meika, who was also called by several other
names, and was probably the Mishuano who mar-
ried a daughter of Ninigret, named Magnus, later
known as the "Sunke Squaw" or "Old Queen of the
Narragansetts . ' '

That Canonicus, who was at the head of the
federation in 1621, was a great warrior seems to be
generally conceded, although almost nothing has
been handed down to indicate the way in which he
earned the "reputation, or the particular wars in
which he engaged. The Pequots on the west must
have caused him some trouble to prevent them
from pushing further to the east than they did;
and he did not live in peace and harmony with the
Pokanokets across the bay at all times. Of his
people it is asserted by some writers that they were
related to the Mohicans, and by others that they
were related to the Niantics, both of which state-
ments are probably true in the sense that they were
all Algonquins of the Wolf totem, as indeed were
all the New England Indians. Their relationship
to these two tribes may have been closer than with
some of the others in point of time of their branch-

THE NARRAGANSETTS 163

ing off from the parent stock; and one is sometimes
led to ask how much any one really knows about
the matter, as we find Ninigret spoken of by some
writers as a Niantic Sachem and by others as a
Narragansett, and the leader of the tribes of the
latter federation that joined the EngUsh in King
Philip's war. Whatever relationship there may
have been between them, if we are to accept as
final a very doubtful conclusion of early writers, it
was not close enough to aUay the alleged jealousy of
Miantonomo, who had succeeded his uncle Canoni-
cus as Chief Sachem of the Narragansetts, over the
division of the remnant of the Pequots among the
three tribes at the conclusion of the Pequot war;
nor to prevent the Mohicans imder Uncas from
becoming the "most deadly enemies of the Narrar
gansetts," when the former, by reason of the de-
struction of the Pequots, became the dominant tribe
in the old Pequot, later the Mohican, federation.

The settlers were to hear from them again very
shortly, for in November, 1621, Canonicus sent one
of his men, accompanied by a friendly Indian
named Tokamahamon, probably a Pokanoket,
to Pljmaouth, with a bundle of arrows tied in a
rattlesnake's skin. Squanto and Hobamock were
both absent at the time of their arrival, and the
Governor decided to detain the messenger until
their return. In the meantime "Captain Standish
tried to find out from him what it meant. He said
he did not surely know, but thought it meant hos-
tiUties." Standish and Hopkins finally succeeded
in allaying his fears, and induced him to talk;

164 MASSASOIT

whereupon he told them that the messenger whom
Canonicus had sent in the summer to treat of peace,
upon his return "persuaded him rather to war, and,
to the end that he might provoke him thereunto,
detained many of the presents sent to Canonicus,
scorning the meanness of them, both in respect of
what he had sent the EngUsh and the greatness of
Canonicus."

He assured them that "upon the knowledge of the
false carriage of the former messenger it would cost
him his life," and that "upon the relation of their
speech then with him, to his master, he would
be friends with the Pilgrims." Squanto, having
returned, then interpreted the message in the same
way that the bearer of it had done. Governor
Bradford took the skin, filled it with powder and
shot and retiu-ned it to Canonicus, with a message
of defiance, and invited him to a trial of strength.
Canonicus refused to receive it and sent it back to
Plymouth, and thus trouble was averted.

I have told the story as related by Bradford, but
I find that some writers put it a Uttle differently,
fixing the time as February, 1622, and saying that
Canonicus' messenger left the challenge and re-
tired. At any rate, the governor's defiance had
the desired effect and the English were not molested
by the Narragansetts for fifteen years; although we
are told by Bradford that the English were in great
fear of them in 1622.

In his description of the building of a fort at Ply-
mouth in the summer of that year, after describing
the fort in detail, he says: "It served them also as

THE NARRAGANSETTS 165

a meeting hoiise, and was fitted accordingly for that
use. It was a great work for them in this weakness
and time of wants; but the danger of the time re-
quired it, and both the continual rumors of the
fears from the Indians here, especially the Narigan-
sets, and also the hearing of that great massacre in
Virginia made all hands willing to despatch the
same."

In 1632, war broke out between the Narragansetts
and the Wampanoags in which the former were,
without doubt, the aggressors. The EngUsh, as in
duty bound by their origiual treaty with Massasoit,
came to the aid of their allies, the Wampanoags, and
the war was of very short duration.

The first serious affair that threatened discord
between the whites and the Narragansetts directly,
was the murder of John Oldham in 1636. Oldham
had sailed to Connecticut to trade with the Pequots,
and on his rettirn had been murdered by Indians at
Munisses (Block Island). These Indians were Nar-
ragansetts, and one early writer suggests that they
were probably angered by the fact that Oldham was
engaged in trade with their most deadly enemies.
Upon complaint of this atrocity being made by the
whites to Canonicus, he sent his nephew, Mianto-
nomo, with two himdred men to pimish the offenders.

Canonicus and Miantonomo succeeded in satisfy-
ing the colonists that this was the act of some reck-
less members of the tribe, and that they were not
concerned in it; and retiuned Oldham's two boys,
who were taken prisoners at the time of his death,
and had been held by their captors.

166 MASSASOIT

On October 21, 1636, Miantonomo with two sons of
Canonicus and twenty other Indians went to Bos-
ton to give notice of the threatening attitude of the
Pequots; and while there entered into an agreement
with the authorities by which each side bound itself
not to make peace with the Pequots without the
consent of the other.

Following close on the heels of this warning by
the friendly Narragansetts came confirmation of the
word brought to Boston by Miantonomo; for on
February 22, 1637, the Pequots attacked Saybrook
and on April 12, Weathersfield, both in Connecticut.
During this period Miantonomo had received other
information which he deemed of sufficient import-
ance to send messengers to Boston to impart to the
authorities there; for at some time during the early
spring he sent word that, following a custom among
the Indians before an impending war of great mag-
nitude, the Pequots had sent their women and chil-
dren away to an island. A force of forty men was
thereupon raised and sent to Narragansett to join
Miantonomo's warriors in an advance against the
Pequots. Aside from the part played by the Nar-
ragansetts in the attack upon the Pequot fortress,
any account of this war would be out of place in
this chapter.

Historians tell us that the Narragansetts were of
very httle service in the attack upon the Pequot
fort, holding themselves aloof and contenting them-
selves with stopping such as fled. It is inconceiv-
able that Narragansett warriors, who have never been
accused of cowardice in the face of their enemies,

THE NAEEAGANSBTTS 167

led by such men as were at their head at that time,
would refuse or hesitate to go against their mortal
foes, when aided by the English, without some good
cause; and this well-known propensity of theirs to
mingle in the thickest of the fighting lends color to
their claim that they had been shghted by the Eng-
lish; and that Miantonomo, after performing good
service, had been insulted and even threatened with
bodily injury. It must be borne in mind in this
connection that the Mohicans imder Uncas fought
with the Connecticut troops in this war; and that
the natives were inordinately jealous of any slight
placed upon their cheifs or tribe. It is among the
possibUities that the Mohicans, and Uncas, their
sachem, being on very friendly terms with Captain
Mason, the commander of the expedition, may have
received some recognition or consideration at the
hands of the whites that was not extended to the
Narragansetts and their chief. Probably nothing
would sooner kindle their resentment, as they were
the much more powerful federation of the two;
their chief came of an illustrious ancestry; and
they, like most other Indians, were Ukely to con-
sider themselves a little superior to their neighbors.
If this surmise is correct, it was the fault of the
whites themselves that they received no assist-
ance from the Narragansetts; for they had hved
among the Indians long enough to have learned
this trait of their character, and they should have
avoided anjrthing that would arouse the jealousy
of one of their allies as against the other. With
them a slight would be an insult to their chief, and

168 MASSASOIT

the threat of bodily injury might have followed
some protest on his part against the treatment of
his people, and resulted from it. If the Indian
claim of insult is well foimded, it shows a woful lack
of diplomacy on the part of the whites, and their
usual utter failure to manifest any appreciation of
favors done or services rendered; for it was Mian-
tonomo himself who had gone to Boston in October
to warn the English, and had sent word of the re-
moval of the Pequot women and children, and ap-
prised the authorities of what such a removal meant.

Besides, Bradford tells us that in 1636 there had
been a war between the Pequots and the Narragan-
setts, saying, "these Narigansets held correspond-
ance and termes of friendship with the English of
the Massachusetts." In this war the Mohicans im-
doubtedly fought with the Pequots, being of their
federation, and the Narragansetts probably saw in
their abandoxmient of the then titular head of the
federation a crafty scheme on the part of Uncas to
overthrow Sassacus, as he had several times before
attempted to do, and place his own tribe in the
dominant position, and himself at the head of the
nation, supported by English muskets in the hands
of English soldiers. That this was a fact was sub-
sequently clearly demonstrated.

Bradford also tells us that following the truce
after this war Governor Vane of Plymouth, with
Roger Williams' assistance, made a treaty with the
Narragansetts. This would be at about the same
time that Miantonomo made the treaty with the
authorities of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, of

THE NARRAGANSETTS 169

which I have abeady written. These are the first
formal treaties between the whites and the Narra-
gansetts of which I find any record, unless we are
to dignify the agreranent before referred to with
the name of a treaty.

At the conclusion of the Pequot war in which
they were practically wiped out, some two hundred
smrivors were distributed among the Mohicans,
Niantics and Narragansetts. This division is said
to have angered the Narragansetts, and is given as
a reason for an alleged attempt on the part of the
latter to raise a general conspiracy against the
English in 1640, the details of which belong more
properly in the chapter devoted to Miantonomo.

1643 was the year of Miantonomo's ill-fated
expedition against the Mohicans. Sequassen, a Sa-
chem of the Connecticut Valley, apparently 'not con-
nected with any of the great federations, unless
DeForest's conclusion that all the tribes of West-
ern Connecticut were related to the Narragan-
setts is correct, was friendly to Miantonomo and
hostile to Uncas. Some difficulty arising between
him and Uncas over the killing of one of the subjects
of the latter by one of Sequassen's men, and an
alleged attempt upon the Ufe of Uncas by shooting
at him while he was paddling his canoe in the Con-
necticut River, Uncas, as usual, instead of taking
the matter into his own hands, neither he nor Se-
quassen being under the guardianship of the English,
complained to the authorities at Hartford, claiming
that, for this and other acts, he ought to have six
of Sequassen's men that he might put them to

170 MASSASOIT

death. The authorities for some unaccountable
reason thought this unfair, and the governor
finally induced him to be content with the man who
had committed the murder. I say for some unac-
countable reason, because a careful reading of the
history of that time leads one to the conclusion that
the Connecticut authorities, frequently aided by
those of the Massachusetts colonies, seemed more
intent upon aiding the Mohicans than upon doing
justice; and I am at a loss to understand this lapse
from their usual policy.

But, to return to the assassin, he was found to be
a friend and relative of Miantonomo, and Sequas-
sen refused to give him up, probably relying on the
Narragansetts to support him. And agaia the
magistrates showed remarkable acmnen, for, being
unable to effect a reconcihation, they dismissed both
Uncas and Sequassen, advising Uncas, however, to
avenge his own grievances. Uncas thereupon in-
vaded Sequassen's territory, burned and plundered
as he went, and killed some seven or eight men and
wounded others.

Miantonomo was not the kind of man to sit by
and see his allies treated in this maimer without
taking some action looking towards their assistance,
and he accordingly complained to Uncas' friends,
the authorities of Connecticut. The governor re-
fused to interfere; and Miantonomo gave notice to
the governor of Massachusetts Bay, and inquired
if the people of Massachusetts would be offended if
he made war against the Mohicans. This notice and
inquiry was in strict compliance with the terms of

THE NARRAGAN8ETTS 171

the treaty he had made with them. The governor
repUed, "If Uncas had done him or his friends any
wrong, and had refused to grant satisfaction, the
Enghsh would leave him to choose his own course."

He then collected a force of nine hundred or a
thousand warriors and marched to the Connecticut
Valley. Uncas went out to meet him and adopted
just such a course as one would expect of him. He
asked for a conference with Miantonomo between
the two opposing forces (a virtual truce) and Mian-
tonomo, with the honor of his race, beUeving that
his enemy would adhere to its traditions and cus-
toms, granted his request. Uncas then submitted a
proposition that he knew Miantonomo would not
accept, and which he probably would not have
made if he had beheved it would be accepted. He
proposed that the two chiefs settle the conflict by
a personal combat between them. Miantonomo re-
fused, saying, "my men came to fight and they shall
fight." Uncas then fell to the ground, this being
the prearranged signal for a shower of arrows from
three hundred Mohican bows against their unpre-
pared enemies who were within easy shot, and en-
tirely imsuspicious of any such an act of perfidy.

This is the incident of which Bradford writes
that Miantonomo "came suddenly upon him with
nine or ten hundred men, never denoimcing any war
before. Uncas had only about half so many but it
pleased God to give Uncas the victory." If they
believed that the God they worshipped was
"pleased" with such treachery as this, it may ex-
plain their own treatment of the Indians; and as to

172 MASSASOIT

the Narragansetts "never denouncing any v/ar be-
fore," I am unable to find any record of Uncas'
"denouncing any war" before he invaded the terri-
tory of Sequassen, Miantonomo's weak ally, and
killing his men and laying waste his country; or,
for that matter, of the Plymouth authorities them-
selves "denouncing any war" at a later date when
they sent Major Winslow with an armed force to
seize Wamsutta in his own domain and bring him
to Plymouth at the point of a loaded pistol, because
of some suspicion.

When the shower of arrows feU upon them the
Narragansetts fled. Miantonomo was wearing an
English corselet which impeded his flight, and some
pursuing Mohicans contented themselves with get-
ting in his way so as to hinder him further, in order
that Uncas himself, who appears not to have been
in the front ranks of the pursuers, might have the
honor of taking him. The story of Miantonomo's
fate belongs in another place; and I will pass on to
the effect of his mmrder upon the Narragansetts.

The following winter the Indians on the Connect-
icut Eiver, probably Sequassen's men, made much
trouble; and the Narragansetts lu-ged the Governor
of Massachusetts "that they be allowed to make
war upon Uncas, saying he had received a ransom for
Miantonomo's life and then executed him; but per-
mission was refused, and they were put off with a
promise that if it was shown that ransom had been
received they would cause Uncas to return the
same."

With their usual happy faculty for believing

THE NARRAGANSETTS 173

what they wanted to, the colonial council decided
the issue against the Narragansetts. The latter,
unable to get any satisfaction, then signed an agree-
ment not to open hostilities until the next planting
of corn, and even then to give the English thirty
days notice. Bradford says they also agreed that
"if any of the Nayantick Pequots should naake any
assault upon Uncas or any of his, they would give
them up to the English to be pimished, and that
they would not procure the Mowacks to come
against him during this truce."

I have spoken of this agreement as of the time
of the Narragansetts' complaint in the winter fol-
lowing Miantonomo's death, although some writers
fix the time of its making as coincident with the
mockery of a trial that was accorded to Miantonomo.

These events occurred in the summer of 1643 and
the winter following; and, in 1645, the trouble
between the two federations broke out again with
fresh violence, of which Roger Williams wrote to
Winslow on June 25th of that year as follows: "The
Narragansets and Monhiggens, with their respec-
tive confederates, have deeply implunged them-
selves in barbarous slaughter. For myself, I have
(to my utmost) diswaded our neighbom-s high and
low from armes, etc. but there is a spirit of des-
peracion fallen upon them, resolved to revenge the
death of their prince, and recover the ransom for
his life, etc. or to perish with him."

Following this outbreak the Colonists patched up
some sort of a truce between the Narragansetts and
Niantics on the one hand and the Mohicans on the

174 MASSASOIT

other, as usual placing all the burden on the former;
for they succeeded in some way, not made entirely
clear, in getting the signatures of their leaders to an
agreement to keep the peace vsdth the English
United Colonies, Uncas and others, without requir-
ing the Mohicans to keep their hands off the Nar-
ragansetts or their allies west of the Connecticut
River. This was signed by Pessacus, who, as we
have seen, was a brother of Miantonomo and suc-
ceeded him as Chief Sachem of the federation, Mee-
kesano, probably Meika or Mishuanno, another
brother of Miantonomo, who had married Magnus
the "Old Queen of the Narragansetts" who parti-
cipated in King Philip's war, and Witowash, all
described as Sachems of the Narragansetts, An-
nesquem, deputy of the Niantics, Abdas, Pummash
and Cutchamakin.

The spirit of the Narragansetts seems to have
been broken by their failure to secure any satisfac-
tion or justice from the English, and for the thirty-
two years ensuing, before King Philip's war, they
confined their hostilities to constant attacks upon
the Mohicans and to acts of depredation against the
whites and especially the clergy, upon whom they
wreaked a terrible vengeance for their participation
in the farcical trial and subsequent death of their
beloved Miantonomo.

When King Philip, roused to frenzy by the injus-
tice of the EngUsh, rose in arms in 1675, all the Nar-
ragansetts except a few tribes under the old Sachem
Ninigret, who joined with the EngUsh in the destruc-
tion of his countrjTnen, sided with Philip and played

THE NABRAGANSETTS 175

the part of men, meeting their fate Uke the brave
warriors they were. I say except Ninigret, for while
he is spoken of as a Narragansett Sachem, there is
Uttle, or perhaps no doubt in my mind that he was
not a true Narragansett, but a Niantic driven with
his people across the Paucatuc by the Pequots, and
living there on Narragansett territory under the
protection of the Sachems of that federation.

I have spoken of the advancement made by the
Narragansetts in common with the Wampanoags,
and it is of interest to note in this connection that
DeForest, who is exceedingly skeptical concerning
the figures given by early historians in speaking of
the niunerical strength of the various federations,
says that their territory was probably morej densely
■ populated than any other part of the United States,
and, while he attributes this fact to the excellent
fishing about Narragansett Bay, which enabled
more of them to live there than in other places, it
should be borne in mind that this bay had no mo-
nopoly on fishing, Samoset leading the Plymouth
settlers to the shores of Maine for fish, and Cape
Cod Bay itself being a fishing resort of the EngHsh
before the settlement at Plymouth. The true reason
for the density of the population, which before the
plague undoubtedly extended to the Pokanoket and
Pocasset territory of the Wampanoags, probably
Hea in the fact that these federations were more
advanced in agriculture than the other Algonquin
tribes. In fact, DeForest says, the Narragansett
men, unlike most of the race, did not shirk manual
labor. He also speaks of them as of a much milder

176 MASSASOIT

and more humane disposition than the Pequots and
Mohicans.

Under the guiding hand of the few English who
appear to have been interested in them as men, and
not simply as cmnberers of the earth which the
English coveted, they made rapid progress toward
civiUzation. It was the Narragansetts that gave
refuge to the persecuted Quakers from Massachu-
setts Bay. It was to them that Roger Williams
fled when he was banished from Salem in 1636,
after spending a part of the winter at Sowams; and
it was among them that WiUiams Kved, loved and
respected by them for more than forty years. It
was to them that Gorton fled with his dissenting or
heterodox associates when banished from Plymouth;
and Deane thinks the council of clergymen who
decided Miantonomo's fate may have been influ-
enced by the fact that the Narragansetts gave him
refuge. There is reason for his conclusion in the
fact, already referred to, that these men who had
fled from the old world to the wilderness of the new
to be free from the restrictions placed upon their
rehgious beUef and rehgious thought, as soon as
they had foimd the haven they sought, became as
intolerant of dissenters from their views as the
clergy of the established church had ever been of
them. In a word they were especially zealous to
deprive others of the same liberty they came here
to secure for themselves.

The part played by the Narragansetts under the
leadership of Pumham, Canonchet, Quinapen and
the "Old Queen," in King Philip's war, the defec-

THE NARRAGANSETTS 177

tion of Ninigret, and his aid to the English in that
war, which resulted in the extermination of his
people, belongs more properly in another place, and
I win pass to the consideration of the greatest chief-
tain produced by the federation during the short
period of its existence of which anything is known.

IX
MIANTONOMO

THIS Great Sachem of the Narragansetts, as we
have seen, was a nephew of Canonicus, whose
activities in the early days of the colonies have been
briefly adverted to, and the great grandson of Tash-
tussuch. Notwithstanding the fact that Canonicus
had two eons at least, who are mentioned in his-
tory as haAong accompanied Miantonomo to Bos-
ton in 1636, and who fought with him at Sachem's
Plain, where they were both wounded, Miantonomo,
the son of Canonicus' youngest brother Mascus, was
his war captain and trusted counsellor before he
laid down the tomahawk, and his successor in the
Great Chieftaincy. It was Miantonomo whom he
sent to punish the murderers of Oldham in 1636,
and it was Miantonomo who headed the party that
traveled to Boston on October 21 of the same year
to apprise the EngUsh of the threatening attitude of
the Pequots.

While we are not famihar with the laws of descent
among the Algonquins, gathering our information
from all available sources, and drawing such infer-
ences as seem warranted by known facts, it would
seem that the Narragansetts had a different rule
than the other federations. We see Passaconaway
of the Pawtuckets succeeded by his son Wonolan-
178

MIANTONOMO 179

cet; Sassacus of the Pequots following his father
Wopigwooit, and Oweneco of the Mohicans taking
up the reins his father Uncas laid down. We find
Massasoit of the Wampanoaga succeeded in the
Great Chieftaincy of that federation by his eldest
son Wamsutta, and the latter followed by his
younger brother Pometacom, while Canonicus is
succeeded by a son of his youngest brother, passing
over his own sons and possibly those of two other
brothers. If there was any uniform rule it must
have been that the Great Sachem named his own
successor from the warriors of his blood and family,
or that the royal family selected their Great Sachem
from their own number.*

If either method was pursued, Miantonomo must
have been a man of parts, either to have been
named by his uncle in preference to his own sons,
or to have secured the election from among the
many men who were eligible to the position. We
have seen much of his friendUness towards the
whites; and there is yet much to be said concerning
him ajid his activities during the short space of
not more than seven years of his great chieftaincy.

In 1636, after a truce had been declared between
the Pequots and the Narragansetts, Roger Williams
reported to Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts
Bay that Miantonomo had told him that the Pe-
quots had labored with the Narragansetts to per-
suade them that the EngUsh were minded to destroy
aU Indians. This may have been only a trick of the
wily Sassacus to arouse the other federation to join
* See note at end of chapter.

180 MASSASOIT

him in the uprising he was then planning; but the
events of the next forty years showed that Sassacus,
if he was sincere in his belief, had read the EngHsh
character and foresaw the result of their continued
occupancy of more and more of the Indian lands,
better than any of the other Sachems of his time.
This incident is related here simply for the purpose
of calUng attention to the sincerity of Miantonomo's
friendship or his apparent sagacity in forewarning
the whites against his own most deadly foes in the
hope of compassing their destruction. The chances
are strongly in favor of the first of these alterna-
tives, because the total annihilation of the Pequots
would only result in bringing some other tribe of
the federation to the front, still having a powerful,
though somewhat reduced, nation on his western
border which was likely to be just as hostile.

In 1638, Aithur Peach and three accomplices
killed a Narragansett Indian who had been to Massa-
chusetts Bay to trade, and they were taken at
Aqmdnick by order of Roger Williams. Williams
learned from friendly Indians of the same tribe that
"the natives, friends of the slain man, had consulta-
tion to kill an Englishman in revenge." Mlanto-
nomo also heard of this, whether through Williams
or from his own people does not appear, and he
sent word to the English, urging them to be careful
when on the highways, and at the same time
threatened his own people with punishment if they
took the matter of vengeance into their own hands,
telling them the governor (of Plymouth) would
see justice done, as indeed he did in this case.

MIANTONOMO 181

hanging Peach and two of his accomplices, the
other escaping to Piscataqua where the settlers
protected him.

In 1640 rumors reached Boston that Miantonomo
was breeding dissension, and was trying to incite
the tribes to a general rebeUion against the whites.
"Rebellion" is the word used by the early writers;
but my understanding of the term is that it means
a revolt against lawful authority, and by what
process of reasoning the colonial governments of
that day concluded that they had any lawful au-
thority over the Indians is beyond my comprehen-
sion. Why the Massachusetts authorities failed to
take accoimt of the past, of Miantonomo's sincerity,
which had been so often manifested, and of Uncas'
well-known duplicity, in the controversy between
them, which was almost constantly before the Eng-
lish magistrates from that time imtil Miantonomo's
death, is another of the mysteries for which history
offers no solution; and their constant support of
Uncas, and abandonment of the man whose char-
acter was so much above that of Uncas that there
is no comparison between them, places a blot upon
the pages of the history of that period that time
cannot efface, an indeUble stain upon their judicial
ermine.

When these rumors reached Boston in 1640, Mian-
tonomo was summoned to appear before the gov-
ernor of Massachusetts Bay, the English or colonial
authorities pursuing their usual high-handed meth-
ods of ordering men who were not under their
jurisdiction aroimd as though they were subject

182 MASSASOIT

to them. Whatever may have been Miantono-
mo's feelings about their assumption of authority
over him, he suppressed them, and went to
Boston, undoubtedly willing to go the whole dis-
tance, and not merely half way, in an effort to pre-
serve the peace and show his readiness to observe
the terms of his treaties and agreements with the
whites. When he presented himself before the
governor he demanded an investigation, and that
his accusers be called to confront him, and if found
to be in the wrong that they be put to death. He
averred that Uncas and the Mohicans had become
his enemies and were circulating this slander against
him. Nothing was shown impUcating him in any
wrongdoing, but the circulation of the rumors re-
sulted in a most bitter enmity between him and
Uncas, which was terminated only by Miantonomo's
fall at the hands of the most treacherous Redskin
that the New England tribes produced during the
period covered by our knowledge of them, aided
and abetted by the men Miantonomo had befriended.
This enmity probably extended to the Connecti-
cut tribes that were more friendly to Miantonomo
than to Uncas, including the Niantics and such of
the old Pequot tribe as had been absorbed by them;
and was unquestionably responsible for an alleged
attempt upon the life of Uncas who claimed to
have been shot at and wotmded in the arm by an
arrow from the bow of some imknown person, if
any such attempt was actually made. At about
this time a young Pequot was found to be in posses-
sion of more wampum than it was thought he ought

MIANTONOMO 183

to have, and he fled to the Narragansetts who pro-
tected him. Uncas rushed to the colonial authori-
ties again, as usual, with this fresh complaint, and
Miantonomo was once more called to Boston. On
a hearing upon Uncas' complaint, Miantonomo
called the Pequot as a witness, and he told in detail
of a plot on the part of Uncas to involve Mianto-
nomo. He said that Uncas had tried to induce him
to teU the Enghsh that Miantonomo had employed
him to kill Uncas; and that the latter, to give color
to the charge, took a flint from his gun and cut his
arm on both sides to make it appear as if an arrow
had gone through it. The Enghsh, as usual, re-
fused to behave this, and ordered Miantonomo to
give the Pequot up to Uncas, another case of their
assumption of authority they did not possess; "in-
tending to subject him to their vengeance." Mian-
tonomo, BtiU desirous of avoiding trouble, acquiesced,
but claimed the right of returning the Pequot to his
own himting grounds as he had introduced him.
This was allowed, and some of Miantonomo's men
started out with him to return him, but themselves
killed tiiTTi while on the way, an act of mercy on their
part which ought to commend itself to any one with
a spark of himianity, for the Narragansetts knew
what Mohican vengeance meant.

I use the expression "as usual" in speaking of
the Massachusetts authorities' refusal to credit the
testimony of the witness introduced on behalf of
Miantonomo because this seems to have been their
constant pohcy. Miantonomo had repeatedly shown
his friendship and good will towards them, they

184 MASSASOIT

never had a particle of evidence of any breach of
faith on his part, except such as was furnished by
his most inveterate foe, the most resovu-ceful liar of
the times, but they persistently refused to listen to
evidence in his behalf, prefering to accept the
stories circulated by his enemy whom they knew to
be constantly plotting his overthrow, and whom
they knew equally well to be imtrustworthy. The
only plausible explanation I can find for their atti-
tude towards these two chiefs, who were no more to
be compared than are noonday and midnight, is
that Uncas was a ready tool in their hands for the
carrying out of their schemes against the other
Indians, in the pohce parlance of the day a stool
pigeon; or that the Narragansetts were more to
be feared than the Mohicans in case of an open
rupture.

And Uncas' reason for playing this part was to
secure the overthrow of the other Great Sachems
of the vicinity, to reduce their federations to a state
of vassalage, with himself the great Indian King of
the day, supported by English soldiers. He had
neither the prowess in battle, the mental qualities
or the personality to accomphsh this without such
assistance; and there was no reason for all the
alleged attempts upon his Ufe. The hostility was
not entirely personal, although Miantonomo had
good reason for a strong personal enmity to him;
but there was more than individual hostihty in-
volved. It was the hostihty of one nation against
another, and if any of the numerous alleged at-
tempts upon the life of Uncas had been successful,

MIANTONOMO 185

it would only have resxilted in putting in his place
another man who probably would have pursued his
poUcy. Again, there were so many complaints by
Uncas of these plots against bis person, rather than
against his federation, that it seems remarkable
that the English did not become suspicious concern-
ing them; but if they had any such suspicion they
carefully concealed it, and always found the issue,
when one was presented, in favor of Uncas. If all
the attempts to remove him, complained of, and
emmierated by Bradford, were actually made, there
must have been some exceedingly poor shots and
weak hands among the conspirators against him;
or he must have been even more skilled in magic,
or vmder the special protection of the Great Spirit
than was the celebrated Passaconaway.

After the capture of Miantonomo, as already re-
lated, Uncas endeavored to extort from him a plea
for his life, saying that if he were Miantonomo's
prisoner he wo\ild beg for mercy at his hands, all
of which was undoubtedly true. Failing by this
means to force a word from the lips of the Great
Chief, who throughout displayed the stoicism of his
race, Uncas then caused some of the Narragansett
warriors, who had been taken prisoners, to be
brought up and tomahawked before his eyes. Even
this, evidently intended as an object lesson of what
was in store for him, failed to move him to the
utterance of a word. Uncas then, well knowing
that a trial before English judges was equivalent to
conviction and execution for Miantonomo, and to
shirk the responsibility for his death, referred the

186 MASSASOIT

case to the English who had just effected a union
under the name of the "United Colonies of New
England," and had provided for the appoint-
ment of two commissioners each from Massa-
chusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut and New
Haven, to consider matters of common interest.
The first Commissioners named for the several colo-
nies were as follows: Massachusetts Bay, John
Winthrop and Thomas Dudley; Plymouth, Edward
Winslow and WiUiam ColKer; Connecticut, George
Fenwick and Edward Hopkins; New Haven, The-
oplulus Eaton and Thomas Gregson.

Bradford relates that at their first meeting held
September 7, 1643, at Boston, "amongst other
things they had this matter of great consequence to
consider on; the Narigansets, after the subduing of
the Pequentes thought to have ruled over all the
Indians about them; but the English especially
those of Conightecutt, holding correspondence and
friendship with Uncass, Sachem of the Monhigg In-
deans which lived nere them (as the Massachusetts
had done with the Narigansets) and he had been
faithful to them in the Pequente Warr, they were
ingaged to support him in his just liberties, and
were contented that such of the surviving Pequentes
as had submitted to him should remain with him
and under his protection. This increased his power
to such an extent that it was unendurable to the
Narigansets and Miantonomo, their Chief Sachem
(an ambitious and politick man) and he sought
privately and by treachery (according to the Indian
manner) to make way with him by hiring some to

MIANTONOMO 187

kill him. Some sought to poyson him, to knock
him in the head in his own house and to shoot him
and such like attempts. None of these taking
effect, he made open warr (contrary to the covenants
between the English and the Narigansetts and the
Mohicans and Narigansets)."

Bradford, and other writers following his con-
clusions, seems not to take account of the fact that
the Mohicans, even if augmented by all the surviv-
ing Pequots, would have been no match for the
Narragansetts. It requires but the application of a
little common sense to known facts to refute all this
nonsense about Miantonomo's jealousy on this
score, and about the increase of Uncas' power by
this means to such an extent " as to be unendurable "
to the Narragansetts. The two hundred survivors
of the Pequot warriors had been distributed, one
hundred to the Mohicans, eighty to the Narragan-
setts, and twenty to the Niantics; and the Niantics
were more friendly towards Miantonomo than to
Uncas at that time. Then why all the talk about
Miantonomo's jealousy and the increase of Uncas'
power? He also apparently forgets, or did not
know, that in "making open warr," Miantonomo
took the counsel of the Massachusetts Bay authori-
ties, and so it was not " contrary to the covenants
between the English and the Narragansets."

Bradford simply follows the report of the Com-
missioners, and later writers follow Bradford; and
it is not difficult to guess that the Commissioners
were hard put to it for an excuse for deciding in
Uncas' favor; and found it in this alleged jealousy

188 MASSASOIT

of the increase of Uncas' power; that is, jealousy of
something that did not exist unless Uncas was har-
boring other Pequots than those assigned to him.
The Commissioners' report was so worded as to
justify the dastardly act recommended by their five
scape-goats and perpetrated by themselves. Upon
what evidence they foimd the facts they do not say,
nor is it necessary. A careful reading of history
will convince any fair-minded man that Uncas had
devoted six years to scheming and planning the
overthrow of the enemy he dared not face in fair
fight, preferring to rely upon the favor of the
English; and that every complaint he ever made
against Miantonomo was deliberately framed for
that purpose. j

It was on the evidence of Uncas' witnesses that
the alleged facts were established. The Commis-
sioners, unwilling to assume the responsibility for
deciding a matter upon which they had probably
already agreed, called in fifty clergymen, who were
holding a conference at the time, and who chose
five of their mraiber to decide the fate of the Narra-
gansett Sachem. Thus the question of life or death
was left to five men who were willing to be made
the scape-goats, and who belonged to the profession
that subsequently showed itself to be made up of
the most blood-thirsty of all the English, and even
more so than any of those whom they delighted in
calling savages. ' ,

Who the five men were history does* not reWe,
probably because they feared the vengeance of the
outraged Narragansetts; but they decided in favor

MIANTONOMO 189

of Uncas, and the Commissioners then passed sen-
tence; that is, they authorized Uncas to put Mi-
antonomo to death, advising moderation in the
manner of his execution; and promised to assist
Uncas if the Narragansetts or others should unjustly
assaiilt them for the execution. As if any assault
upon them or upon their accomplices, the whites,
for the execution, could be unjust. One is naturally
led to ask why the English meddled in the affair at
all. The only plausible answer is that they sought
to terrify the natives for their own advantage.

Bradford informs us that "Uncass followed this
advice, and accordingly executed him in a very faire
manner, according as they advised, with due respect
to his honor and greatness." And he might have
added that Uncas paid a high tribute to his mur-
dered foe in cutting a slice of flesh from his still
quivering body and eating it, declaring, "it is the
sweetest meat I ever ate. It makes my heart
strong."

One piece of the evidence upon which the issue
was decided is of suflacient importance to warrant a
word of comment. When the people of Ehode
Island, who lived near Miantonomo, and whom he
had often befriended, took sides with him, beUeving
him to be mainly in the right, Uncas' followers told
the authorities at Hartford that Miantonomo had
engaged the Mohawks to join him and that they
were then encamped within a day's journey of the
frontier, and were awaiting Miantonomo's libera-
tion. The authorities apparently swallowed this
statement, without making any attempt to verify

190 MASSASOIT

it, and used it as the deciding piece of so-called evi-
dence; thus estabUshing the truth of the last part
of the complaint made by King Phihp to Governor
Easton thirty-two years later, that if "twenty of
their honest Indians testified that an Englishman
had done them wrong it was as nothing, but if one
of their worst Indians testified against any Indian
or their King, when it pleased the English it was
sufficient."

The decision of the Commissioners was kept secret
until they were out of the reach of the tribes, other-
wise the commission would probably have had an
unhappy ending. As soon as they had had time
to reach places of safety the authorities of Hartford
took Miantonomo from the jail there, where he had
been confined, and deUvered him to Uncas and his
brother Wawequa, and they started back with him
to their own himting groimds, one of the stipulations
being that he was not to be executed within the
jurisdiction of the colonists.

When they arrived at Sachem's Plain, where the
Mohicans had met the Narragansetts and defeated
them by the trick referred to in the preceding chap-
ter, Wawequa stepped behind Miantonomo and at
a signal from Uncas struck him down with a toma-
hawk. Then followed the incident of the eating of
a slice of his flesh. They buried him there; a
friend piled a heap of stones on the grave and it is
said that for a hundred years every Narragansett
who passed that way turned in sadness and added a
stone to the heap upon his grave, until a large mound
marked the place.

MIANTONOMO 191

Compare this case with that presented a Uttle
later by the Narragansetts, who complained that
Uncas had received a ransom for Miantonomo's hfe
and then executed him, and asked, not to have
Uncas brought in and executed if found guilty, but
simply that the English would allow them to avenge
their own wrongs. This request was refused, the
Narragansetts being put off with a promise that
if it was shown that Uncas had received a ransom
they would cause him to return it; and then con-
veniently deciding the issue in his favor. Thirty
pieces of silver against a life! A few spans of wam-
pum against the man whose lands they coveted!

Winthrop's narrative of the farce that they called
a trial conveys such a different impression of the
merits of the controversy between Uncas and Mian-
tonomo than does that of the Commissioners, that it
gives rise to the suggestion already made that the
latter reported the matter in such a way as to vindi-
cate their participation in what all rehable authori-
ties agree in pronouncing a cold-blooded murder.

And so perished Miantonomo, the best friend the
whites had among the Indians after Massasoit; that
is, if they valued the friendship of a man rather
than that of a Mohican. Historians, except Brad-
ford, agree that he was guiltless of any offence; he
had many times shown the greatness of his character
in his dealings with the whites; and when it came
to a question of simple justice at their hands, it was
refused, and he was given up to his most cruel enemy
for assassination by a man who could not look him
in the face when he struck the deadly blow.

192 MASSASOIT

After the condemnation of Miantonomo by a body
of clergymen, is it any wonder that for the nejd; hun-
dred years more clergymen fell by the tomahawk in
New England, in proportion to their nvunbers, than
those of any other class? Is it any wonder that,
instead of the peace the colonists pretended to expect
to follow this unjustifiable act, they found them-
selves confronted by thirty years of reprisal and
vengeance, terminating only in the extinction of the
Narragansetts in King Philip's war?

If we are inclined to think the penalty exacted by
the Indians severe, let us not lose sight of the fact
that the offence was serious, and that the simple
natives, unable to secure the colonists' consent to
their exacting justice, took the matter into their
own hands, and avenged their leader's death upon
the heads of the accomplices to his murder.

Does any one wonder after reading the story of
the Mohicans and Narragansetts, culminating in
the death of the Narragansett Sachem, that the
chiefs "had a great fear that any of their Indians
should be called or forced to be Christians," as
stated by Governor Easton?

I fancy there was a shade of irony in the wily
old Ninigret's reply to Mayhew when he asked
permission to preach among the old Sachem's
people. "Make the En^sh good first; try it
on the Pequots and Mohicans and if it works, I
will consider it."

Do we wonder that the Christian religion failed
to impress Massasoit, who saw the practices of the
Christian English, and who manifested more of the

MIANTONOMO 193

spirit of true Christianity than all the clergy of
New England of his time, excepting John EUot and
Roger Williams?

Speaking of Miantonomo and his son Canonchet,
Schoolcraft, who is not noted for many expressions
of sympathy with the Indians or their cause, says:
"His imjustifiable death on Sachem's Plain is not
so remarkable as an act of savage cruelty as it is
of English casuistry. An Indian was made to
strike the jexecutionary blow which Indian clemency
or diplomacy had withheld. Canonchet also fell by
the same questionable system."

Note. — Since writing this chapter I have received a sug-
estion that the sons of a great chief might lose their rights
of succession by marrying beneath their station, a thought
that had entirely escaped the writer's attention, but which
seems entirely plausible.

X

THE PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER
WESTERN TRIBES

THE attention of the reader has abeady been
called to the fact that Schoolcraft speaks of
the "Wolf totem or Mohicans" as the first of the
three clans of the Leni Lenapee or parent stock of
the Algonquins to migrate from their ancestral
himting groxmds, and that Gallatin thinks it was
the only one to penetrate into strange lands.
Whether either of these conjectures is right or
wrong we do not certainly know, but Schoolcraft
speaks with such positiveness of the identity of the
"Wolfs" with the "Mahangins," as they seem to
have been originally called, that it is probably safe
to conclude that the Mohicans were of that totem
and adopted as their national cognomen the name
of the entire clan. If Gallatin is correct, we are, of
course, led to the inevitable conclusion that all the
tribes occupying the vast expanse of territory out-
lined in a preceding chapter, except those who contin-
ued to Uve around New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland
and Eastern Permsylvania, were originally Mahangins,
who swept out to the north, the south, the east and
the west in successive tides, and as they became
separated from each other formed separate federa-
194

PEQUqTS, MOHICANS AND OTHEB TRIBES 195

tions, all closely related, but having a sufficiently
distinct existence, so that in the development of
their customs and their language they eventually
differed so materially that it has required extensive
research by linguists into the common roots of their
various dialects, of which there are said to have
been more than forty, to classify them properly.

Whatever may have been the early scope of the
name "Mahangin," at the beginning of the seven-
teenth century, Mohican was the name apphed to
a tribe of the Pequot nation as it was then called.
If Schoolcraft's belief that the Pequots were true
Mohicans is well founded, it would be more appro-
priate to speak of them as the Mohican Nation or
federation, in which the Pequots, one of the tribes
of the nation, had gained the ascendency. Other
writers, however, assert that the Pequots were an
inland tribe that had swept down and overwhelmed
the Mohicans, whom they ruled as a conquered
people. If this is true, they simply constituted an-
other of those waves of migration to which I have
referred, that rolled across the Nipmuck territory to
the north and could not be stayed until they reached
the shores of Long Island Soimd, compelling the
Mohicans who had occupied this territory to con-
fine themselves to the northerly portion of their
former himting grounds, while they themselves
settled down on the more desirable portions bor-
dering on the water. These two theories are not
irreconcilable, for, as we have seen, Gallatin says
they were all "Mahangins."

Whatever may have been their origin or their

196 MASSASOIT

relationship, we find some writers who cover the
earhest periods of American history speaking of the
Pequot Nation as having their principal rallying
place near the mouth of the Thames Eiver, which
was in the territory then occupied by the true
Pequots, "where Connecticote, Quinnipoig and
Sassacus" were called "the three Kings, of whom
Sassacus was the most noted warrior, though Con-
necticote was the Chief of Chiefs." This is hardly
reconcilable with other equally positive statements
by other historians who tell us that Wopigwooit,
sometimes called Pekoath, was the great chief of the
federation until his death at the hands of Dutch
traders about 1633. He was imdoubtedly suc-
ceeded by his son Sassacus.

The question that naturally arises, then, is, who
were the other of the three kings? And if Wopig-
wooit was the great chief as was his father before
him, and he was succeeded by his son in the Great
Chieftaincy, how does it come about that Connec-
ticote was Chief of Chiefs? From what we know
of the activities of the tribe from 1635 until its prac-
tical extermination in 1637, it seems safe to con-
clude that the other two kings mentioned were only
the sachems of some subdivisions of the federation,
perhaps of the royal hne of Wopigwooit, and high
counsellors of the War Lord Sassacus; although
Quinnipoig is the name given by some writers to
one of the Connecticut River tribes.

While Gookin and, following him, Drake, Galla-
tin and Schoolcraft give the name Pequot to the
first of the five great nations of New England In-

PBQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 197

dians, it is significant that the true Pequot territory-
extended only from the Paucatuc River on the
east to the Niantic on the west, and from Long
Island Sound northerly less than half way across
the state of Connecticut. That their territory did
not extend westerly to the Connecticut River is
clearly established, for while they imdoubtedly held
sway over the western Niantics, occupying the pen-
insula formed by the Niantic and Connecticut
Rivers, north of these lay the Podunks, whose Sa-
chem Waghinacut went to Boston in 1631 to try to
induce the English to settle in the Connecticut
VaUey. He boasted of the fertiUty of the soil and
offered to provide settlers with corn and to give
them eighty beaver skins if they would send a colony
into his territory. Winthrop says he afterwards
found that he was a very treacherous man and had
been at war with a far greater Sachem named Pe-
koath. DeForest, however, says the Pequots de-
feated them in their battles and compelled them to
submit to Pekoath.

The Podunks, as I have said, lay north of the
western Niantics on the east side of the Connecti-
cut River. To be more acciu-ate I should have said
they were north of the Waugimcks who occupied
the territory immediately north of the western
Niantics and also on the west side of the river.

I am aware that in placing the limit I do on the
Pequot territory, I am running against the claims
of some old writers who assert that Sassacus' sway
extended nearly to the Hudson River, as well as
the statement of others that he had twenty-six sub-

198 MASSASOIT

sachems or sagamores under him, because there
were not twenty-six tribes in all Connecticut if the
authorities that seem most rehable are to be be-
lieved; and Gallatin, who appears to have made
extensive research to gather the material for his
Archseologia Americana, says there were seven in-
dependent tribes west of the Coimecticut Eiver.
DeForest, who pubhshed a history of the Con-
necticut Indians in 1852 under the auspices of the
Connecticut Historical Society, shows a map of Con-
necticut as it was in 1630, on which he locates ten
such tribes, naming them. If it should be claimed
that these were really of the Pequot nation, we come
right back to the fact that one of them had recently
been at war with Pekoath (Wopigwooit) of the
Pequots; and we are confronted with the further
fact that the Tunxis, another of these tribes, if it
was subject to Sassacus, did not constitute any part
of the Mohican nation which Uncas built up on the
ruins of the Pequot; for as we have already seen,
Sequassen, their sachem, was more friendly to Mian-
tonomo than to Uncas, and is said by DeForest to
have been related to the Narragansett sachems.

This same Sequassen owned the land where
Hartford now stands and sold it to the English.
DeForest says these western Connecticut tribes
were all numerically weak, but for that matter he
places the strength of all the New England tribes at
a much lower figure than other writers, estimating
the Pequots at three hundred warriors, the number -
seen by Endicott when he was on the coast in 1636,
rather than seven hundred as given by Captain

PEQTJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 199

Mason who overthrew them in 1637, and whose
figures are generally accepted; and the Narragan-
setts he gives but ten to twelve hundred warriors
against the three to four thousand as credited to
them by other writers, except Gookin who places
them at one thousand.

DeForest further contradicts the claims of Pequot
control nearly to the Hudson, saying that a large
part of the inhabitants of the country west of the
Connecticut River became subject to the Mohawks,
and that every year two old Mohawks might be seen
going from village to village collecting tribute and
issuing orders from the Great Council of the Five
Nations at Onondaga.

For that matter they all seem to have been re-
lated, for according to Uncas' genealogy as given
to the whites in 1679, Sassacus' grandmother was a
daughter of the Chief Sachem of the Narragansetts,
Uncas' mother was a sister of Sassacus' grandfather
and Uncas himself married a daughter of Sassacus.
So we see that Uncas the Mohican was of the royal
house of the Pequots and married into the family,
being a distant cousin and son-in-law of Sassacus,
whose position he sought continuously to usurp;
and finally, being so thoroughly despised by all the
tribes of the federation except his own that he
could accomplish nothing unaided, joined the Eng-
lish against his own people for the sole purpose of
securing the overthrow of Sassacus and the Pequot
tribe in order to place his own tribe with himself at
its head in the dominant position in the league.
That he would have betrayed the English with the

200 MASSASOIT

same facility had the opportvinity presented itself
without danger to his precious scalp goes without
saying.

The Chief Sachem of the Narragansetts, whose
daughter Woipeguand the grandfather of Sassacus
is said by Uncas to have married, was named
Wekoum. This must have been the father or
grandfather of Tashtussuch, unless the chieftaincy
descended collaterally, and in that case either the
uncle or great uncle. So we see that Wopigwooit,
Sassacus and Uncas were cpusins, a few degrees re-
moved, of Canonicus and Miantonomo who were
their most deadly foes.

Intermarriages between members of the ruling
houses of the neighboring nations in intervals of
peace would seem from this to have prevailed
among the Indians just as it has among civilized
peoples, but with no better results so far as it
affected the peace of the nations.

English colonies having been established on the
Connecticut River, in 1633 Sassacus began the
series of depredations that terminated in the Pe-
quot war. The first overt act was the murder of
Captain Stone and his crew. Stone was a trader
from Virginia, said to have been unscrupulous in
his dealings and addicted to drunkenness, but this
does not appear to have contributed to his misfor-
tune, as the Indians did not complain of any mis-
treatment on his part when they made their defence
for his murder, which does not appear to have been
presented until 1636.

Between these dates the authorities had made a

PEQTJ0T8, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 201

treaty with Sassacus, and had succeeded in patching
up some sort of a peace between him and the Nar-
ragansett Sachems. By the terms of this treaty,
the Pequots were to pay to the whites four hundred
fathoms of wampum for the Narragansetts for some
damage occasioned by their depredations. In this
connection it is of interest to note that we find
mention of payments of wampvmi much more fre-
quent in the deaUngs of the Pequots and Narra-
gansetts than of any other tribes, and this bears out
the statement of Bradford that the Indians about
Plymouth and the Massachusetts had none or very
little wampum, "only it was made and kepte amonge
the Narigansets and Pequentes, which grew rich
and potent by it."

The treaty to which I have referred, and which
was expressly sought by Sassacus, who sent messen-
gers to Boston to secure the friendship of the Eng-
Msh, was made in 1634, but, in 1636, war broke out
between the Pequots and the Narragansetts, and in
the same year, the authorities charged Sassacus
with having harbored some of the murderers of
John Oldham, and with having failed to pay the
wampum which he had agreed to pay by the terms
of his treaty, and another six himdred fathoms was
added to this by the authorities, probably as a
penalty for harboring Oldham's murderers, although
they do not appear to have been given any hearing
on this charge; but this seems to have been the
only fresh outrage against the whites or charged to
the Pequots which would warrant the demand.

A fleet of small vessels was fitted out at Boston

202 MASSASOIT

to sail to the Pequot country to secure. satisfaction
or punish the offenders. John Endicott was placed
in command, with Captain Underhill commanding
the miUtary force of ninety men. Endicott's in-
structions were to go first to Block Island and take
possession of it in the name of the colony, to spare
the women and children, but to put all the men to
the sword in punishment for the murder of Oldham,
although more than a dozen of them had already
been slain by Gallop and his crew at the time of
the discovery of the offence, and Canonicus had
sent Miantonomo with two hundred men to pimish
them further.

From Block Island, Endicott was to proceed to
the Pequot coimtry, obtain the murderers of Stone
and one thousand fathoms of wampum. It is
worthy of note in this connection that Stone was
miurdered before the treaty between the Pequots
and the EngUsh, so it seems like a stale demand to
us at this remote time. He was also to demand
some of their children as hostages and to take
them by force if the demand was refused. At
Block Island, Underhill reported the killing of four-
teen natives and the woimding of others, but the
Narragansetts claimed that they killed only one.

Arriving at Saybrook, Lieutenant Gardiner, the
commander of the garrison, protested against the
enterprise, saying, "You have come to raise a nest
of wasps about our ears and then you will flee
away." Events that followed showed Gardiner to
be in the right. As the expedition sailed up the
river the natives became much alarmed and called

PEQTJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 203

out to them from the shore inquiring if the English
had come to kill them, to which Endicott repHed
that the Pequots or their aUies had destroyed an
English vessel and killed ten EngUshmen on the
river; that their sachem had agreed to surrender
the murderers (this appears to be the first mention
of any such agreement) but had not yet fulfilled
his agreement, and that the English had now come
for them, and, if the Pequots were wise, they would
immediately give them up. They then demanded
one thousand fathoms of wampum for the destruc-
tion of the English property and for their faith-
lessness in not observing the treaty. The Pequot
ambassador tried to justify the killing of Stone by
telling about an earher expedition in which some
whites (Dutch) had seized their sachem and de-
manded a ransom of a bushel of wampum; that they
had promised to send the sachem ashore upon the
collection of this wampum; that the Indians had
collected the wampum and paid it to them and they
then brought the sachem ashore dead. When Stone
came, they did not know the difference between the
Dutch and the English and did what they did to
avenge their sachem's death.

Endicott refused to accept this explanation and
persisted in his demand for the heads of those who
had slain their people. Endicott's men accom-
pUshed nothing but the burning of wigwams, wast-
ing the com, and staving canoes, and then returned
to Boston. This exasperated the Pequots to such
an extent that they endeavored to induce the Nar-
ragansetts to join with them in a general uprising,

204 MASSASOIT

as related by Miantonomo to Roger Williams. Mas-
sachusetts colonists, though having banished Wil-
Hams because of his heterodox views, appealed to
him to use his influence with the Narragansetts to
prevent the culmination of this attempt, and, for-
tunately for the colonists, WiUiams succeeded, if
indeed the Narragansetts seriously entertained the
proposition.

The Pequots seem to have become actively hos-
tile to the English from this time, attempting, as
we have already seen, to secure the assistance of their
constant enemies, the Narragansetts, in a general
uprising, and, failing in this, they started in on their
own account in the spring of 1637, by attacking
Weathersfield and Saybrook.

These open acts of aggression aroused the Con-
necticut colonies, and their anxiety soon spread to
those of Massachusetts. At Hartford on May 1,
the general court adopted an order the beginning
of which was as follows: "It is ordered that there
shall be an offensive war against the Pequoitt, and
that there shall 90 men be levied out of the three
Plantacions, Harteford, Weathersfield and Windsor
(vizt) out of Harteford 42, Windsor 30, Weathers-
field 18, under" comande of Captaine Jo. Mason."
June 2, a second levy of thirty was made, as follows,
"Harteford 14, Windsor 10, Weathersfield 6," and on
June 26 stiU another of ten apportioned to "Harte-
ford 5, Windsor 3, Weathersfield 2."

Massachusetts, alarmed by the disquieting re-
ports brought in and sent in by Miantonomo, and
the Saybrook and Weathersfield massacres, had

PEQTJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 205

started preparations even earlier than Connecticut,
for on April 18, at a session of the General Court, a
levy of one hundred and sixty men had been ordered,
and the sum of six hundred pounds had been appro-
priated to meet the expenses. It was expressly pro-
vided that the forty men that "were lately sent to
Saybrook" were to be accounted of said number.
These forty were the men who made up the expedi-
tion Bent to the Narragansett country to join Mian-
tonomo's force as referred to in an earlier chapter.

Plymouth, on June 7, provided for raising thirty
men for the land forces and as "many as necessary
to man the barque," by voluntary enlistment.
Forty men volunteered imconditionally and three
more "if they should be prest."

Mason's orders were to sail down the Connecti-
cut to Saybrook and attack the Pequot forts, of
which there were two, from the west; but he decided
to disobey the order and to attack from the east.
His expedition left Hartford on May 10, and arrived
in Narragansett Bay on the twentieth. The next
day being the Sabbath they stayed on their boats.
Tuesday they disembarked and Wednesday re-
ceived word from Roger Williams of the arrival of
forty men from Massachusetts under the command
of Captain Patrick. Williams requested them to
wait for this reenf or cement; but, leaving thirteen
men in charge of the boats, Mason pushed on with
seventy-seven whites, sixty Mohicans and two hun-
dred or more Narragansetts. The next morning
they reached a fort of the Niantics twelve miles
east of the Paucatuc River; and not being entirely

206 MASSASOIT

sure of the friendliness or even neutrality of Nini-
gret, the Niantic Sachem, they surrounded the fort.
Two hundred warriors from this tribe then joined
them and they started out, seventy-seven whites
and a motley gathering of five hundred Narragan-
setts, Niantics and Mohicans.

One writer of comparatively recent times, who
derives his information concerning the expedition
from Captain Mason, Trumbull and others, says
the start was made on June 5, but other historians
fix the date of the attack on the Pequot fort as
May 26, and we are natiuraUy led to inquire why
Mason delayed so long after reaching and surroimd-
ing the Niantic fort. They left the place of debar-
kation on Wednesday, May 23, and arrived at the
Niantic fort the next morning, and it does not
appear that they were delayed there.

On arriving at the frontier the same writer tells
us some of the Narragansetts seemed to be seized
with fear and turned back, but Captain Mason
pressed on, and on halting for the night at a point
three miles west of the Paucatuc River, learned of
the location of the two forts of the Pequots, one of
which was on the Pequot or Niantic River and the
other on the Mystic. As the most westerly one
could not be reached before midnight, Mason de-
cided to attack that on the Mystic first, and to camp
at Porter's Rocks, a short distance from the fort, the
following night and make an assault early in the
morning.

Their presence at Porter's Rocks was known to
the occupants of the fort, for at their last camp the

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 207

troops could plainly hear the Indians shouting their
defiance. At three o'clock in the naorning prepara-
tions for the attack were begun. There were two
entrances to the fort, and the plan of assault in-
volved the entrance of one of these by Captain
Mason with a part of the force and the other by
Captain Underbill with the remainder. Their In-
dian allies, having been encouraged or restrained
from retreating only by Mason's urgent appeal to
them to stay and see whether the English woidd
fight or not, formed a circle far in the rear. It is
related that Uncas was present in person at the
attack and when asked how many of the Mohicans
would run, replied, "all but me." (And this tvimed
out to be true in a sense, for Mason says they all
deserted except Uncas after the fight.)

Mason and Underbill reached their objectives at
almost the same moment, and Underbill entered
without opposition, but when Mason was within a
few feet of his entrance the barking of a dog aroused
the sentry who rushed back shouting, "Owanux,
Owanux," the English, the English. The Indians
were bo panic-stricken by the suddenness of the
attack that they offered very little effective resist-
ance, the English immediately coming to close quar-
ters and using swords as well as muskets. Mason
ordered fixe-brands applied to the seventy wigwams
within the fortification, and in a very short time the
work of destruction was complete, the whites form-
ing a close inner circle, and the Indians an outer
circle to stop any who succeeded in getting through
the inner line. Captain Mason says between six

208 MASSASOIT

and seven hundred Pequot warriors perished in this
attack, one hundred and fifty having come from
the other fort during the night; seven were cap-
tured and seven escaped. It is also said that three
hundred came up from the other fort and attacked
the EngHsh while on their way to the Pequot or
Niantic River where they were to meet their vessels,
but they kept them at bay until the arrival of the
boats. Captain Patrick and his forty men were on
the vessels, and twenty men from Massachusetts
arrived in time to join in the attack on the fort.
This accounts for the presence of Captain Underhill
who was a Massachusetts man. Outside of these
twenty, Mason had no active assistance in the as-
sault, and the entire attacking party consisted of
less than one himdred men, of whom two were killed
and twenty wounded.

Mason then took up his march to Saybrook in-
stead of returning by the boats, no doubt intending
to complete the work he had so auspiciously begun,
and gather in the remnants of the tribe. On the
way to Saybrook they fell in with a "people called
Nayanticks, belonging to the Pequots, who fled to
a swamp for refuge." These were the western Nian-
tics, the eastern branch of the tribe being the people
whom Mason found east of the Paucatuc River, and
some two hundred of whom joined him in the
expedition.

Mason tells us that the remnant "fled into several
parts toward Manhatance" (Manhattan?), and two
hundred old men, women and children, who were
found in a swamp near New Haven, gave them-

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 209

selves up, and the rest were finally rovinded up in
a swamp in Fairfield where they were completely
surrounded; but about sixty or seventy broke
through that part of the Une held by Captain
Patrick and escaped; and one hundred and eighty
were captured.

DeForest says that in this flight they passed .
through the territory of the Hanmionassetts, Quini-
poigs and Wepauwags or Paugussetts, and of course
they would of necessity cross the land of the western
Niantics before coming to any of these.

The men who made this last stand must have
been the occupants of the western fort, who made
their escape after the disastrous defeat of their
tribesmen at the Mystic fort. Sassacus himself
was in the western fort, but abandoned his tribe and,
with twenty men, including one of his brothers and
at least five sachems, sought safety with the Mo-
hawks, probably preferring to take chances with
them, notwithstanding the fact that at some earUer
time he had made war upon them, rather than face
capture at the hands of the English and their Mo-
hican and Narragansett allies, and the fate that he
knew awaited him if taken by them. He may
have thought that the Mohawks wotild extend to
him in his humbled position the hospitality of a foe-
man to his fallen enemy. K such was his belief he
miscalculated the Mohawk character, for they put
him and all of his party except one named Minotto,
who escaped by flight, to death and the following
August they sent his scalp with that of his brother
and five sachems to Hartford. It is claimed that

210 MASSASOIT

the Mohawks were induced to thus destroy the
party by bribes from the Narragansetts, but what-
ever may have been the impeUing motive, it does
not speak very highly for the Mohawks. If they
did not wish to harbor them through a desire to
avoid conflict with the EngUsh, as neutrals they
might at least have allowed them to pass on or, at
the worst, have tinned them over to the whites; not
that the latter course would have helped the Pe-
quots, but it would have placed the responsibiUty
for their subsequent treatment where it belonged.

And so perished the great Pequot nation and Sas-
sacus, its chief. Some historians speak of refugees
scattered here and there, and tell us that some of
them fled to Uncas and some even to their ancient
enemies, the eastern Niantics and Narragansetts;
and then go on to say that on October 1, 1638,
there were found to be two hundred men of them,
including the old and feeble and the young and
strong, who were divided as follows: eighty to Mian-
tonomo, twenty to Ninigret and one hundred to
Uncas. They were prohibited from using the name
Pequot and were ordered to assume the name of the
tribe to which they were attached. That this order
was not strictly enforced appears from the fact that
in 1646 two small bodies of them had settled in their
old hunting grounds, one near the Thames and one
near the Paucatuc, where they were known by the
old name. The head of one of these groups was a
Pequot, and of the other, a nephew of Ninigret,
named Cushawashet, but more commonly called
Wequash Cook and Herman Garrett.

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 211

In 1655, the Commissioners of the United Colo-
nies recognized these two bodies and appointed
Garrett governor over the Paucatuc group and Cas-
sassinimon governor of the other group, said then
to be located near New London. This act of the
commissioners was not pleasing to Uncas and he
protested, but they refused to revoke the appoint-
ments, and instead conferred upon the two gover-
nors all royal privileges formerly belonging to
sachems only.

Some historians vary the figures given above in
writing of the distribution of the remnant of the
tribe, and some speak of them as though they were
not refugees, but those who surrendered at New
Haven or were captured at Fairfield, and the ques-
tion naturally arises, if they were not the captives
so taken what did become of the latter? History
does not leave us entirely in the dark on this point,
however, as there is enough written to warrant the
behef that they were distributed as slaves among
the colonists, a fate that certainly befell the women,
some of them being taken to Massachusetts, where,
as we have already seen, one "Uttle young squaw,"
said to be a daughter of Sassacus, was given to Sas-
samon for his services in the war, and afterwards
became his wife. So these two hundred probably
were the scattering refugees; but, if they were, a
simple problem in addition gives us from ten to
twelve himdred Pequot warriors, where Endicott
saw three hxmdred, and DeForest thinks this was
the total strength of the tribes, twenty-six in num-
ber, under Sassacus, or at least of as many of them

212 MASSASOIT

as were with him in this war. Unless these refugees
and the captives taken in the Fairfield swamp were
the same, there were three hundred and eighty, be-
sides the sijcty or seventy that escaped and the
twenty who fled with Sassacus, after the fight at the
Mystic fort.

My reason for saying that these two hundred who
were di-vdded were probably actual refugees is that
there appears to have been some sort of treaty or
agreement between the whites and the Narragan-
setts, Niantics and Mohicans at the conclusion of
the war, by which the Indians bound themselves
not to harbor any Pequots, which would preclude
any prior distribution of the captives; and it is
worth noticing at this time that the only tribe that
lived up to this agreement was the Narragansetts
under Canonicus and Miantonomo, whom the whites
subsequently gave up to be murdered by the treach-
erous Uncas.

As early as July, 1637, — and this date lends color
to the belief that these two himdred were refugees
— the Massachusetts authorities had a quarrel with
Ninigret concerning the matter, and the Narragan-
setts told the authorities at Boston that Uncas
was protecting a large number of them; but before
taking up the matter of this revelation, I will refer
briefly to Captain Mason's account of the trouble
the Connecticut authorities had with Ninigret on
the same score. He says that some of the cap-
tives — mark the word! — settled at Paucatuc con-
trary to agreement, as claimed by the Enghsh; and
he was sent against them. When he arrived on the

PEQXJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 213

scene he saw three hundred armed Indians across
the river, having previously been attacked by Nini-
gret's warriors of whom be captured seven.

Otash, Miantonomo's brother, then came up and
said they were Miantonomo's men. Ninigret's men
were defiant, and, when told that the whites had
come to destroy the Pequots because they had not
kept their word, in that they were not to inhabit
there, said the Pequots were good men and they
would fight for them; they would fight Uncas but
not the whites, who were spirits. Mason pressed on
and destroyed crops and wigwams.

Among the Pequots harbored by Ninigret were
two brothers of Sassacus, and a report that he was
about to give his daughter in marriage to one of
them subsequently caused the colonists some anx-
iety. There appear to be some inconsistencies in
Mason's narrative as the men could not well have
been Miantonomo's and Ninigret's unless the former
had some greater authority over the latter than he
seems to have exercised.

To return to Uncas; upon the defeat of the Pe-
quots and the almost complete annihilation of the
tribe, followed by the prohibition of the use of the
name, the Mohicans became the dominant tribe in
the federation and Uncas was their Sachem. De-
Forest says of him he " was selfish, jealous and tyran-
nical." He might have said a great deal more
that is not generally considered complimentary, and
still have been within bounds.

When Wopigwooit was slain by the Dutch, Uncas
laid claim to the Great Chieftaincy, basing his claim

214 MASSASOIT

on his own descent and strengthening it by the
royal birth of his wife. He engaged in open war
with Sassaczis over the succession; but most of the
tribes of the federation adhered to Sassacus, and
Uncas was defeated and fled to the Narragansetts.
This life of an exile apparently becoming irksome to
him, he sent a humble message to Sassacus begging
permission to retmrn to his people. Sassacus, more
magnanimous than wise in this respect, granted the
desired permission on condition of submission and
good behavior for the future. Uncas, with the du-
plicity, deceit and treachery which marked his
entire career, promised to behave and came back
to the Mohicans.

Apparently this was but the first step towards
the accomplishment of a weU-defined purpose to
begin his plottings against Sassacus again, for in a
short time he was once more a fugitive from his
own domain. Again he was pardoned upon his sub-
mission and promise of good behavior, and again
was compelled to flee. On each of these successive
flights to the Narragansett country, some of his
warriors remained, until finally his forces were so re-
duced by these losses that he was no longer danger-
ous, and he was again permitted to return, although
deprived of all of his lands. He then devoted his
entire attention to the hunt, in which two sons of
a sister of Sassacus were his constant companions.
These men, who, as wiU be seen by reference to Un-
cas' genealogy of the Chiefs of the Pequots, were
cousins of his wife, afterwards quarreled with Sas-
sacus and fled to the Narragansett country where
they remained.

PEQTJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TEIBES 215

When the Narragansetts informed the authorities
at Boston that Uncas was protectLag many Pequot
fugitives, that worthy came to Boston with a
retinue of thirty-seven warriors, bringing a present
of twenty fathoms of wampimi for the governor,
which he refused to receive iinless some explanation
was made of Uncas' conduct in giving assistance to
the Pequots. When this refusal was communicated
to him he was somewhat perplexed, but only for a
moment, for, hke the accomphshed Har he was, he
soon recovered his composiore and solemnly assured
the authorities that he had no Pequots and that all
those who accompanied him were true Mohicans.

The authorities, taking him at his word, accepted
his present; Uncas then placed his hand on his
heart and addressed the governor in these words:
"This heart is not mine. It is yours. I have no
men; they are all yours. Command me any hard
thing and I will do it. I wiU never believe any
Indian's words against the English. If any Indian
shall kill an Englishman, I will put him to death,
be he ever so dear to me."

On their way back from Boston to their own
coimtry they passed Roger WilUams' house; and one
of their party, having become lame, stopped there.
This man was named Wequanmugs, the son of a
Narragansett father and a Mohican mother, and so,
free to travel in the hunting grounds of both tribes.
In a conversation with Mr. WiUiams he told him
that Miantonomo had only two Pequots, both of
whom had been captured by his warriors and were
not volimtaiy refugees under his protection; that the

216 MASSASOIT

Niantics had about sixty under Wequash Cook,
Ninigret's nephew, who, as we have ah-eady seen,
under the name of Herman Garrett was later ap-
pointed governor over them with the dignity of
Sachem.

WilUams then inquired if there were any Pequots
in the party that accompanied Uncas to Boston,
to which he rephed that there were six and gave
their names, saying at the same time that two of
them bad slain Englishmen, v Williams, wbc ap-
parently had not the confidence in Uncas that the
Massachusetts and Connecticut authorities always
manifested, wrote down the names and sent them
to Governor Winthrop with an accoxmt of his con-
versation with Wequanmugs. • DeForest observes:
"The revelation must have been peculiarly gratify-
ing to Winthrop, as he had given to the sachem a
fine red coat on his departure, and had defrayed his
expenses while he remained in Boston, and furnished
him with provision for his homeward journey, and
dismissed him with a general letter of protection."
This visit of Uncas to Boston was in July, 1638,
three months before the distribution of the two hun-
dred refugees, and while the original agreement be-
tween the whites and the Indians concerning the
harboring of Pequots was in full force.

During the same summer that Uncas made this
visit to Boston, some Pequots who had not sub-
mitted to or taken refuge with any other tribe, but
had remained independent, sent some of their chief
men to Hartford with an offer to give themselves
up to the Enghsh if their lives might be spared.

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 217

Both Uncas and Miantonomo were thereupon
Bummoned to Hartford to confer with the authori-
ties concerning the disposition of this group, as well
aa to adjust certain disputes between themselves.
Miantonomo set out with an imposing train com-
posed of his wife and children, several of his sachems
and not less than one hundred and fifty warriors.
Roger Wilhams and two other Englishmen also ac-
companied him. Before reaching Hartford they
were met by a number of Narragansetts returning
to their own country from Connecticut, who com-
plained that the Pequots and Mohicans had robbed
them; and following close on the heels of this com-
plaint came another from a Nipmuck clan, subject
to the Narragansetts, that they had been plimdered
shortly before by a band of six or seven hundred
Indians of these two tribes and their confederates.
They reported that this band of marauders had
spoiled twenty-three fields of corn and robbed three
Narragansetts who were staying with the Nipmucks,
and were then lying in wait for Miantonomo and his
party; and they said that some of the band had
threatened to boil Miantonomo in a kettle.

Miantonomo was not to be deterred by threats
of this character and pressed on, reaching Hartford
in safety, where he proceeded to lay before the
Council these several causes of complaint. Uncas
was not there, having sent a messenger to tell the
authorities that he was too lame to attend. Haynes,
one of the leading men in the Council, and later gov-
ernor of the colony, said this was a very lame ex-
cuse, and sent messengers to request him to make

218 MASSASOIT

his appearance. The urgency of this message
seems to have proved a very effective liniment, for
he recovered from his lameness at once and re-
paired to Hartford, bringing with him an Indian
to testify that the party which had been in the
Nipmuck country consisted of only one hundred
and not six or seven, and that they took only a
little corn for roasting and did a few other harmless
things but no damage. This was flatly contradicted
by the Narragansetts, but the Council was unable
to decide where the truth lay and dismissed the
charges.

This was one of the early instances of the leaning
of the colonial authorities towards Uncas, to which
I have called general attention in a preceding chap-
ter, and of which I may have occasion to cite other
instances. He had broken his promise concerning
the harboring of Pequots. He had hed to Governor
Winthrop about it. He had deliberately attempted
to evade their request to come to Hartford for a
conference with the Council and Miantonomo con-
cerning the disposition of Pequots who had offered
to give themselves up, and to discuss his own dif-
ferences with Miantonomo, and when he did come
finally on second and urgent request, brought one of
his own followers as a witness to meet a charge that
he did not know had been preferred, unless his own
guilty knowledge of its truth was sufficient to make
it certain that the charge would be made; and the
word of this subject of his was taken as against that
of the Narragansetts, and he was found not guilty.

The magistrates then attempted to effect a recon-

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 219

ciliation between the two sachems; and Mian-
tonomo, although the party aggrieved by their
decision, entered into the spirit that prompted their
efforts, and, with the magnanimity that always
marked his character, twice invited Uncas to feast
with him on some venison which his hunters had
brought in. This invitation Uncas sullenly refused,
notwithstanding the urgent request of the magis-
trates that he accept.

Before leaving Hartford, Miantonomo, at a
private conference, gave the Council the names of
all the remaining members of the Pequot tribe who
had been guilty of killing Englishmen. A Mst of
these names was read to Uncas who admitted that
it was correct. Miantonomo then said that of the
remnants of the tribe Canonicus had none; he had
ten or eleven out of the seventy who had submitted
to him, the others never having come in, or having
returned to their old hunting grounds after coming
in; and the rest were either with the Mohicans or
in their ancient territory, which it will readily be
seen amounted to the same thing, as the Pequot
territory naturally became Mohican territory when
the last-named tribe gained the ascendency in the
federation. If there is any truth to the charge that
Miantonomo was jealous of the increase of Uncas'
power by the addition of the Pequots, we do not
need to look further for the reason. It was not be-
cause of the allotment of them to the several tribes,
but the fact that Uncas and Ninigret, who was the
sachem of a tribe that had been of the old Mohican
federation, though under Narragansett protection

220 MASSASOIT

and living on Narragansett territory, had almost
all of them, no doubt through their own in-
ducement to them to live in their territory; and
Ninigret in the event of hostihties was just as
hkely to favor Uncas as he was to side with
Miantonomo.

On the presentation of this last statement as to
the then location of the remaining Pequots, to
Uncas, he attempted to evade the question and the
giving in of any accoimt, saying that he did not
know the names of his Pequots, that he had only
twenty, but that Ninigret and three other Niantic
sachems had many of them. He afterwards ad-
mitted that he had thirty, and was allowed ten
days to bring in their names, and messengers were
dispatched to the Niantic countiy to secure a list
of the Pequots with them.

It was on the lists thus furnished that the allot-
ment was made on October 1, 1638. From what we
know of Uncas, it requires no great stretching of
our credulity to believe that he might, at that very
time, be protecting many more than he reported,
and Miantonomo, knowing that this was likely to
be the case, had another reason for fearing trouble
on account of his double dealing and deceit, to say
nothing of the tendency on the part of the colonial
authorities to favor Uncas in all matters in con-
troversy between them, which first manifested itseK
at the conference to which I have referred and
which continued constantly to the end.

I have already called attention to the hostility of
these two chiefs and of the complaints lodged with

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 221

the authorities by Uncas against Miantonomo dur-
ing the Ufe of the latter, in the chapter devoted to
the last-named chief, as well as to the culmination
of the controversy between them by the death of
Miantonomo on Sachem's Plain; and without re-
peating, I will now proceed to a brief recital of some
of the principal events in which Uncas figured after
he had secm-ed the colonists' consent to the cold-
blooded murder of his rival.

His troubles did not cease upon the removal of
Miantonomo, but rather seemed to increase, the
first fresh outbreak resulting from the claim of the
Narragansetts that he had agreed to release their
chief upon payment of a ransom, a part of which
had been paid when the jealous Mohican, with his
usual treachery, put him to death. We have seen
that the authorities decided this case in favor of
Uncas, but from what has already appeared con-
cerning the character of that chief and of his ma-
chinations and the tendency of the whites to favor
him, it is not difiScult for us to beheve that this was
one of those judgments based upon poUcy rather
than soimd reasoning, with which the history of
that period abounds.

In the fall of 1646, Herman Garrett, who, as we
have seen, had established himself at the head of a
group of Pequots west of the Paucatuc River, com-
plained that Uncas and three hundred of his warriors
had attacked one of their htmting parties and plun-
dered them. Upon being summoned to Court on
this complaint, Uncas admitted that he had done
wrong in committing this act of violence in such

222 MASSASOIT

close proximity to the English settlement, but at-
tempted to palliate the offence by a counter charge
that Garrett's men had hunted on Mohican grounds
without leave.

Before Uncas could get away from New Haven,
where this complaint was heard, WiUiam Morton of
New London came forward with another charge.
Accompanied by three Pequots, Morton came in
and related a startling story told to him by one of
the Pequots who came with him, in which this man,
whose name was Wampushet, said Uncas had hired
him and two Pequot powwows for fifteen fathoms of
wampum to wound another Indian and then charge
the crime upon Garrett.

Wampiishet was then called before the Council,
and denied the story he had told to Morton, but not
that he had told it; and then proceeded to charge
the entire plot to Garrett, just as he had told Mor-
ton it was originally planned. They were unable
to shake him in his last version, and as there was
no evidence against Uncas except what Wampushet
had previously told Morton and now stoutly denied,
the complaint was dismissed. Morton and the
other Pequots 'who came in with him declared that
Uncas must have hired Wampushet to change his
testimony, and this plot so closely resembles the
one revealed to the Massachusetts authorities, and
disbelieved by them, at the time when Uncas
claimed to have been shot through the arm with an
arrow, that we are quite naturally led to inquire
whether this was not actually one of the means em-
ployed by Uncas to rid himself of rivals or enemies

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 223

whom he feared or whose power he desired to curb,
with the assistance of the Enghsh.

In this last cited case, in order to obtain a clear
view of the situation, it must be borne in mind
that Garrett was a Niantic, and a nephew of the
sachem of that tribe; the group over whom he had
estabUshed himself were Uving on old Pequot terri-
tory, and if suspicion could be fastened on Garrett,
it would naturally reflect upon the Niantics, and
this group of Pequots would naturally be given to
Uncas by the Enghsh.

It was not long after this last affair that forty-
eight Pequots presented themselves before the Coim-
cil. They said they had not fought against the
whites, having fled the coimtry when the war broke
out, and presumably returned to their old himt-
ing groimds after its conclusion. They complained
that Uncas had taken away their wives, robbed
them of their corn and beans, spoiled their nets and
extorted wampum from them. Uncas did not ap-
pear in person to answer to this charge, but sent
Foxon, his Chief Counsellor, who either pretended
ignorance, or attempted to paUiate the offences.

John Winthrop was the next complainant on be-
half of a group of Indians, who charged Uncas and
his brother Wawequa with having attacked this
group with one himdred warriors, plimdered the
people and carried away their cattle, wampum, bear
skins, beaver skins and other articles of value.
Foxon admitted this attack, but excused Uncas, by
saying that he had not personally had any part in
it, and knew nothing about it, being away at New

224 MASSASOIT

Haven, and had not participated in the spoils. At
this same time a complaint was also made against
him for having gone over to Fisher's Island and
broken two canoes, frightened an Indian and plun-
dered the island.

The great sohcitude of the magistrates for this
precious cut-throat is shown by the penalty imposed
upon Viim for these three outrages. He was ordered
to pay a fine of one himdred fathoms of wampum
when the Pequots returned to him. The Pequots,
being the forty-eight who complained of his mal-
treatment of them, never returned, as the magis-
trates must have foreseen, and so he escaped scot
free.

About 1649 or 1650, he appears to have had a
real grievance; for there seems no good reason to
doubt that he was actually attacked while on board
an EngUsh vessel, by Cataquin, a Narragansett,
who woimded him in the breast with a sword so
seriously that he came very near putting an end to
complaints both by and against the fawning Mo-
hican.

Ninigret was charged with being the instigator of
this plot, and Pessacus was alleged to have been
impUcated in it. Nothing appears to have been
pressed against the latter, but Ninigret went to Bos-
ton where he attempted to clear himself by a coimter
charge that the Mohicans had carried this story;
but was reminded that Cataquin had told it to
Captain Mason and others when he surrendered to
the Mohicans. They let Ninigret off with a sharp
reprimand and warning of what was likely to hap-

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 225

pen to him if he persisted in his plotting. At the
same time they sent word to Uncas, who was re-
covering from his wound, that Cataquin was at his
disposal, and there the historians leave the matter,
probably assuming that the intelligent reader of
Uncas' life and character does not need to be told
what happened to Cataquin.

But the colonial authorities were not yet rid of
this pestiferous scoundrel, for, in 1653, he again
sprang into the lime light with a complaint to
Haynes, who had then become governor, that the
Narragansetts and Niantics. were attempting to
organize an expedition against him at New Nether-
lands; and he related with great detail hov/ Nini-
gret had been to Manhattan, where he had received
a large box of powder and bullets in exchange for a
large quantity of wampmn, and had then attended
a coimcil of Indians from the Hudson Eiver in an
endeavor to secure their assistance in a contemplated
attack upon Uncas and the Enghsh. How much of
this had a foimdation in fact, and how much was
the product of Uncas' suspicion and jealousy is not
established. There seems to be no doubt that
Ninigret did make a trip to the Hudson at about
that time, but it was never shown that it was for
any other purpose than that of legitimate trade.

At this same sitting of the Court, Uncas also
complained that Ninigret had sent a present of wam-
pum to a "Monheag Sachem," asking him to send
men skilful in magic and poison and promising one
hundred fathoms more of wampum upon the
poisoner's return after the accomplishment of the

226 MASSASOIT

purpose for which he was wanted. Uncas claimed
to have intercepted the canoe which was bringing
the party, which consisted of the conjurer and six
other persons, one of whom was a Pequot and the
rest Narragansetts; he said that Wampeag, one of
the Narragansetts, had confessed the entire plot and
pointed out the "Monheag" who had been sent to
carry it out, whereupon the Mohicans had fallen
upon the alleged poisoner in a rage and put him to
death.

This was the fourth alleged attempt upon the life
of Uncas, and every one of them impUcated some
rival whose power he feared, and whom he desired
to remove with the aid of the EngUsh. They all
savor so much of the craftiness and cunning for
which he was so notorious, and as there is direct evi-
dence that at least some of them were framed by
Uncas himself, to say nothing of the strong chain of
circimistantial evidence leading to the same con-
clusion, we are led to doubt whether there was any
real foimdation for any of them except the attack
by Cataquin.

On the other hand, the authenticity of this at-
tempt seems to be sufficiently well estabHshed to
give rise to the question whether there may reaUy
not have been something in some of the other
charges. That the English did not give fuU faith
and credit to them is apparent from the fact that
they did nothing with respect to two of them.
Whatever may have been the facts, we are inevi-
tably forced to the conclusion that Uncas was either
a wily schemer constantly striving to increase his

PBQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHEB TRIBES 227

power by preferring against his rivals charges based
upon suspicion or framed by him; or that his
enemies really did make the attempts with a view
to ridding the world of the most selfish, treacherous
and unscrupulous scoundrel produced by the In-
dians of New England diuring the period covered by
our knowledge of them. That he was thoroughly
despised by all the other sachems of southern New
England goes without saying, and their hatred of
him is to their credit. He was as thoroughly hated
as his early rival, Miantonomo, was loved and re-
spected.

Puffed up with the favors the English showed
him, and their apparent readiness to lend them-
selves to the furtherance of his schemes by decid-
ing always in his favor whenever any issue between
him and other Indians was presented, and letting
him off without even a reprimand when he offered
no defence to his outrages, — in 1661 he attacked
the Indians at Quabaug in western Massachusetts,
and kiUed some and took others prisoners. These
Indians were of a Nipmuck tribe subject to Massa-
soit, and the Massachusetts colonial authorities, in
pursuance of their treaty obligations to that chief,
sent word to Uncas, demandiag the release of the
prisoners. Receiving no reply, they then arranged
with Captain Mason, who for twenty-five years had
been on friendly terms with Uncas, to repeat the
demand.

Upon Mason's arrival, Uncas at first excused
himself by saying that he had received the demand
from Massachusetts only twenty days before; and

228 MASSASOIT

said he did not know the Quabaugs were under the
protection of the Enghsh; and then denied that
they belonged to Ousamequim; saying they were
subjects of a deadly enemy of the Mohicans named
Onopequin; and, apparently not satisfied with these
two defences, he next attempted to justify his act
on the assumption that they were Ousamequin's
men, by saying that the latter had repeatedly waged
war upon the Mohicans as had his eldest son Wam-
sutta or Alexander. To cover his entire line of
defence, he then assured them that, notwithstand-
ing all these things, he had set the men free, al-
though one of them was his own cousin, and had on
several occasions taken up arms against him.

It will be diflicult to find a more shifty and
thoroughly truckHng defence in the pages of his-
tory, and on which part of it the commissioners re-
hed we are not told; and it may be that they did
not believe any of it, but were content to keep him
groveling to them. In any event, they seem to
have accepted his excuse, and not to have required
him to give satisfaction. Upon his defence being
laid before Wamsutta, who was at Plymouth at the
time, he contradicted Uncas' statement concerning
the Quabaugs and said that they were his father's
people, and that he had made war on Uncas only
becaiise of wrongs he had done them.

Without attempting to cover all his activities, I
have called attention to enough to show his char-
acter. DeForest says: "It is not difficult to see
why Uncas was forever at sword's points with
sachems and tribes of his own race. His nature

PEQTJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TKIBES 229

was mean and jealous and he was tyrannical. He
was treacherous to his own people. He would ac-
cuse before the English some one or another as
being too dangerous or treacherous. He was the
unscrupulous ally of the English, obeying every nod
and sign with which they favored him and took
every advantage which they allowed, over his
brethren of the forest. He accused Miantonomo,
put him to death, oppressed the valiant Pequots,
tracked Sequassen from bis place of refuge among
the Pecoupans and surrendered him to the colonists'
magistrates, and finally complained to the EngKsh
about Pessacus, Ninegret, of Mexam, of Mohansick,
and of any sachem from whom he could possibly
have anything to fear."

And this was the man whom the English backed
against their faithful friend, who stood before them
as a man, and not a slave, who protected them
without doing injustice to others, and of whose sad
fate DeForest writes: "Such was the end of Mian-
tonomo, a sachem who seems to have been re-
spected and loved by every one who was not fearful
of his power."

In spite of his truckling to the English, and run-
ning to them with complaints, and in spite of all the
favors he had received at their hands, they knew
him well enough not to trust him at the outbreak
of King Phihp's war; and required him to give
hostages for his good conduct; and he sent in two
of his own sons, brothers of Oweneco, his eldest son,
who was then the war chief of the nation; and they
appear to have remained with the EngUsh through-

230 MASSASOIT

out the war. Oweneco with two hundred of his
warriors fought with the colonial armies at the
Swamp Fight at Kingston, Rhode Island, on Decem-
ber 19, 1675, when fifty-one of them were killed
and eighty-two woimded.

The Mohicans and Pequots also participated in
other engagements, fighting with the colonists
against the Wampanoags and Narragansetts, their
ancient enemies, prompted, no doubt, by a desire
to secure the overthrow of every other sachem of
any importance and set themselves up as the domi-
nant Indian power in southern New England up-
held by English forces. It would seem from our
study of the character of Uncas, that this was a
sufficient guaranty against any misconduct on his
part, but the men who knew him were not content
even with this, but demanded further siu^ety, a sad
commentary on their confidence in the man they
had upheld for nearly half a century.

In King Philip's war a few Nipmuck tribes and
the Podimks joined King Philip; the other tribes of
Connecticut remained neutral, except the western
Niantics who seem to have come under the domi-
nation of Uncas upon the passing of the control of'
the nation from Sassacus to him.

The Niantics, who have been frequently referred
to in this and in preceding chapters, appear to have
been a tribe of the old Mohican federation, iato
which the Pequot invasion drove a wedge, forcing a
part of them to the west and a part to the east, by
reason of which they are sometimes referred to as
the Eastern Niantics and the Western Niantics,

PEQUOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 231

and I have followed this classification in this chap-
ter. I have referred to the location of the two
branches. The western group seem to have been
under complete domination of the Pequots and later
of the Mohicans, and play no particular part in
the early struggles between the various tribes or
between them and the whites. That their sym-
pathies were with Sassacus, and that they held a
fort as a sort of second line of defence in the Pequot
war seems fairly well estabhshed, and that they
followed Uncas in the final struggle of the red and
white races for the control of southern New Eng-
land is certain. The Eastern Niantics maintained
an independent position east of the Paucatuc, al-
though imder the protection of the Narragansetts,
with whom they were so closely allied that some
writers speak of them as Narragansetts. Their his-
tory is so mingled with that of the Narragansetts,
Pequots and Mohicans and their activities have
been so often referred to in these connections that
they do not call for fiui,her comment here, except to
call attention to the fact that, under their old
sachem Ninigret, who had caused a vast amount of
trouble up to 1654, they joined the whites against
their race in the last great attempt to shake off the
ever increasing fetters which the men they had
befriended were constantly forging for their feet.
In this war Ninigret's daughter Magnus, the "Old
Queen of the Narragansett?," who was then the
widow of Miantonomo's brother, followed the for-
times of King Philip.

Ninigret was a shrewd old observer of events,

232 MASSASOIT

and perhaps foresaw the outcome of the struggle
and the futility of throwing his warriors into the
"deadly breach" against the whites, and hoped to
secure for his people some favorable consideration
at the hands of the men whose progress he saw no
chance of stopping. He fell into complete disfavor
with the whites in 1654, and his power was broken,
and with it no doubt his spirit. That his hope of
perpetuating his race by aiding the English, like
Uncas' dream of an Indian Empire within or beside
a white, was without foundation, appeared in the se-
quel, for friend and foe have alike been swept away.

Uncas died in 1682 or 1683, and was succeeded
by his son Oweneco, sometimes written Oneco, who
was the war chief of the nation during the war,
Oneco's son Caesar succeeded him, and upon the
death of Caesar, Uncas' youngest son Ben seized
upon the chieftaincy, and he was succeeded by his
son Ben, the last of the Mohican sachems. So it
will be seen that the second generation after Uncas
saw his race despoiled of all the prerogatives of
royalty, if, indeed, he and his descendants from the
time he first began to nm to the English with his
complaints were anj^thing more than mere tools in
their hands to preserve order, or assist them in pre-
serving order, among the Indians for the English-
men's own ends.

The first Ben Uncas, according to his father's own
statement, was iUegitijnate, Uncas saying of him
that he was half dog, the mother being a poor
beggarly squaw, not his wife. It was generally
understood, however, both among the English and

PEQTJOTS, MOHICANS AND OTHER TRIBES 233

Indians, that Ben's mother was a daughter of
Foxon, Uncas' Chief Counsellor.

Two hundred years after Uncas began his plot-
ting to estabUsh a great Mohican nation, with him-
self as its ruler, all that remained of his dreams was
a reservation of twenty-three hundred acres, four
hvmdred and sixty of which were actually culti-
vated by about sixty descendants of the warriors
who, imder the leadership of Oweneco, aided the
whites in their work of exterminating their own
race. About an equal number was then scattered
to all the points of the compass, and of all the one
hundred and twenty or one himdred and twenty-
five not more than twenty-five or thirty were of
pure Mohican blood. One of these one hundred and
twenty or twenty-five was Esther Cooper, a lineal
descendant of Uncas, and so far as known the last
of his race. This refers to 1849, and the figures are
taken from DeForest's History of the Connecticut
Indians.

Thus faded the dream of the ambitious, unscru-
pulous, lying and treacherous Uncas, who sought by
subterfuge and treachery to grasp the sceptre of
Empire from all the New England Indians, and
died, as he Hved, despised by the men for whose
favor he sold his birthright and betrayed his coun-
trymen. If Indian character depended upon him
and such as he, we would have no difficulty in agree-
ing with the appraisals usually made of it, but, for-
tunately for the memory of the race, it has produced
not only an Uncas, but a Massasoit, a Miantonomo
and a Pometacom, whose heroic deeds save it from
obUvion, or disgrace.

XI

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS

THREE histories of King Philip's war were
written by men who lived through that peril-
ous period, and who ought, therefore, to know
whereof they write. The first of these to make its
appearance was by Rev. William Hubbard of Con-
necticut, and was pubhshed immediately after the
close of the war; the second was by Rev. Increase
Mather of Massachusetts, and consisted principally
of a repetition of what Hubbard had written with-
out giving any credit to the earlier writer. This
work appeared in 1676 and is entitled Magnalia.
Just what the author means by the title is not
quite clear; but if the first part of it is from the
Latin Magnus (great), it is most appropriately
named, for of all the colossal monimients to cant
and bigotry erected in an age when cant and bigotry-
seemed to coxmt for reUgious fervor, this is easily
Magnalia, the greatest of them all. The third
was written by Thomas Chiorch, a son of Captain
Benjamin Church, at his dictation, and from notes
made, as he says, at the time. This was published
in 1716, and ran through several editions. Captain
Church was in a position to know as much about the
war as any man of that time, and, consequently in a
234

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 235

position to know more than any man of other
times. The principal diflBiculty with his work is the
air of braggadocio running through it, the tendency
to exaggerate the ego. In fact, the entire work
reads more like the boasting of his prowess by an
old man than an attempt to set down historical
facts with an eye single to absolute accuracy, and
justice to the character of his opponents. While
we are obliged to resort, in a large measure, to these
three works for our facts, the beauty of all of them
is sadly marred, the first two by the narrowness
and spleen of the writers, and the last by the spirit
of self-aggrandizement that permeates it. But we
are not left entirely to the accuracy and judgment of
these three men. Fortunately for the memory of
the Indians, another contemporary writer, before
the conclusion of the war, set down some observa-
tions of his own, without spleen or prejudice, and
without boasting. John Easton came to New Eng-
land in 1634, and settled at Ipswich in the Massa-
chusetts Bay Colony. Being a Quaker, he was
soon forced to flee to Rhode Island to escape the
penalties imposed by the Puritans of Massachusetts
upon men who did their own thinking in religious
matters, and whose thoughts did not coincide with
those laid down by the men in authority, who as-
smned the prerogative of thinking for others as
well as for themselves. He settled at Newport,
Rhode Island, in 1638, and very soon arose to promi-
nence, being governor's assistant in 1640 and 1643,
and from 1650 to 1652; and in 1654, he was presi-
dent imder the first colonial charter, and governor

236 MASSASOIT

of Rhode Island from 1672 to 1674. In speaking of
him as governor of Rhode Island, the latter must
not be confused with the Providence Plantations of
Roger WiUiams, as Rhode Island in those days
meant the Indian island of Aquidnick, the Rhode or
Red Island of the English.

Governor Easton died before the war was con-
cluded, but not without having written down some
facts which it is well to keep in mind in connection
with the history of that period; and which so in-
censed the Reverend Increase Mather that he tells
us he hastened his work on accoimt of it, apparently
fearing that the truth would not reflect any partic-
ular credit upon the English at Plymouth; and so
must be completely bm-ied in a mass of misrepre-
sentation, cant and bigotry. Unfortimately for
himself and his so-called history, he manifests so
much spleen throughout the work that the careful
reader sees in it, not the righteous indignation of
one who is imjustly accused, but the boiling rage of
the criminal who is caught with the goods in his
possession.

Governor Easton's history contains some informa-
tion concerning the complaints of the Indians as re-
lated by themselves that throw such an interesting
side hght upon the beginning of King Philip's war
that I am constrained to quote from it at length,
simply changing the quaint spelling and applying
modern rules of punctuation, to make the whole
more easily intelligible. He says: "But for foiu-
years' time, reports and jealousies of war had been
very frequent. Yet we did not think that now the

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 237

war was breaking forth; but about a week before it
did, we had cause to think it would. Then, to en-
deavor to prevent it, we sent a man to Phihp that,
if he would come to the ferry, we would come over
to speak with him. About four miles we had to
come; thither our messenger come to them; they,
not aware of it, behaved themselves as furious, but
suddenly appeased when they understood who he
was and what he came for; he called his council and
agreed to come to us; came himself unarmed and
about forty of his men, armed. Then five of us
went over; three were magistrates. We sat very
friendly together. We told him our business, so to
endeavor that they might not receive or do wrong.
They said that was well; they had done no wrong,
the EngUsh had wronged them. We said we knew
the English said the Indians wronged them, and the
Indians said the Enghsh wronged them, but our
desire was the quarrel might rightly be decided in
the best way, and not as dogs decided their quarrels.
The Indians owned that fightmg was the worst way;
they then propounded how right might take place.
We said by arbitration. They said that all Enghsh
agreed against them, and so by arbitration they had
much wrong; many miles square of land was taken
from them, for the Enghsh would have EngUsh
arbitrators; and unless they were persuaded to
give in their arms, that thereby jealousy might be
removed; and the Enghsh, having their arms,
would not deUver them as they had promised im-
til they consented to pay one hundred pounds; and
now they had not so much sum or money; they

238 MASSASOIT

were as good be killed as leave all their livelihood.
We said they might choose a Indian king, and the
English naight choose the Governor of New York,
that neither had case to say either were parties in
the difference. They said they had not heard of
that way and said we honestly spoke; so that we
were persuaded, if that way had been tendered, they
would have accepted. We did endeavor not to hear
their complaints, said it was not convenient for us
now to consider of, but to endeavor to prevent
war. . . . We knew what their complaints would
be; and, in our colony, had removed some of them
in sending for Indian rulers in what the crime con-
cerned Indians Uves, which they very lovingly ac-
cepted, and agreed to their execution, and said so
they were able to satisfy their subjects when they
knew an Indian suffered duly; but said in what
was only between their Indians, and not any town-
ships that we purchased, they would not have us
prosecute, and that they had a great fear to have
any of their Indians should be called or forced to
be Christian Indians. They said that such were in
everything more mischievous, only dissemblers, and
then the English made them insubject to their kings
and by their lying wronged their king. We knew it
to be true. . . . But Philip judged it to be dis-
honesty in us to put off the hearing any just com-
plaint; therefore we consented to hear them. They
said they had been the first in doing good to the
EngUsh and the EngHsh the first in doing wrong;
said when the Enghsh first came, their king's father
was as a great man and the English as a little child;

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 239

he constrained other Indians from wronging the
EngUsh, gave them corn and showed them how to
plant; and was free to do them any good, and had
let them have a hundred times more land then now
the king had for his own people. But their king's
brother, when he was king, came miserably to die,
being forced to court, as they judged, poisoned.
And another grievance was, if twenty of their
honest Indians testified that an Englishman had
done them wrong, it was as nothing; but if but one
of their worst Indians testified against any Indian
or their king, when it pleased the English, it was
sufficient.

"Another grievance was when their kings sold
land, the English would say it was more than they
agreed to. And a writing must be proved against
all them, and some of their kings had done wrong
to sell so much. He loved his people not; and some
being given to drunkenness, the English made them
drunk and then cheated them in bargains; but no
doubt their kings were forewarned not to part with
their land for nothing, in comparison to the value
thereof. Now, whom the English have owned for
king or queen, they were disinherited, and make
another king that would give or sell them these
lands; that now they had no hopes left to keep any
land.

" Another grievance, the Enghsh cattle and horses
still increased; that when they removed thirty
miles from where the English had anything to do,
they could not keep their corn from being spoiled,
they never being used to fence; and that when

240 MASSASOIT

the English bought land of them, they would have
kept theu' cattle upon their own land.

" Another grievance, the Enghsh were so eager to
sell the Indians Kquors that most of the Indians
spent in drunkenness and reneved [^probably reneged,
in the sense of shifting the responsibility] upon the
sober Indians, and they did beheve even did hurt
the Enghsh cattle; but their king could not prevent
it.

" We knew that these were their grand complaints,
but we only endeavored to persuade that aU com-
plaints be righted without war; but come for no
other answer but that they had not heard of that
way, for the governor of York and an Indian king
to have a hearing of it. We had case to think, if it
had been tendered, it would have been accepted.
We endeavored that, however, they should lay
down the war, for the English were too strong for
them; they said then the Enghsh should do to
them as they did when they were too strong for the
Enghsh. So we departed without any discourteous-
ness, and suddenly had letter from Plymouth Gov-
ernor, they intended in arms to conform Phihp, but
no information what it was they required or what
terms he refused to have their quarrel decided at,
and in a week's time after we had been with the
Indians, thus begun." He then proceeds to give
an account of the first acts of hostilities, as related
by all the historians of that date.

The unrehabihty of Reverend Increase Mather's
account of the war may perhaps be fairly judged
by his reflection upon this simple statement of facts

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 241

made by a man who had no occasion or incentive to
tell anything but the truth, and who related only
his own experiences; as well as by Mather's attempt
to discredit another narrative of the war written as
he says "by a merchant of Boston," and published
in London, of which the reverend writer says,
"abounding mistakes therein caused me to think it
necessary that a true history of this affair should
be pubUshed." Continuing he says, "Whilst I was
doing this, there came to my hands another narra-
tive of this war written by a Quaker in Road Island,
who pretends to know the truth of things, but that
narrative being fraught with worst things than meer
mistakes, I was thereby quickened to expedite what
I had in hand." This imdoubtedly refers to Eas-
ton's history, as no other narrative written by a
Quaker ill Rhode Island is known to exist.

Disregarding Chm-ch's apparent egotism, which
really is not sufficient cause for doubting the truth-
fulness of his narrative, except perhaps, those por-
tions of it which refer to his own exploits, writers
of later date have drawn largely upon his record of
events for their facts concerning the occurrences of
the war, and, in a large measure, for information
about the Indian chiefs who participated in it; and
for the purposes of 'this work, I will follow their
example, first calling attention to the fact that I do
not propose to give even a r&iun6 of the history of
the war; but rather to confine myself to a brief
consideration of the causes which led up to it, and
to references to some of the men who joined with
Philip in an attempt to shake off the shackles which

242 MASSASOIT

the English had been systematically fastening upon
them almost from the moment of the first interview
between Massasoit and Governor Carver at Plym-
outh.

I have said that Major Winslow's forcible arrest
of Wamsutta at Munponset Pond was the beginning
of King Phihp's war, and in a sense this is true, for,
while the grievances which he and his coxmsellors
enimierated to Governor Easton, and the acts of the
English of which they then complained, had ex-
tended over a long period, this was the first open
act of hostility.

Wamsutta had never subjected himself or his
people to the authority of the colonists, and was not
under their jurisdiction. He was an independent
ruler, bound, it is true, by the obhgations of what-
ever treaties he had entered into with the whites, as
well as those entered into by his predecessor in behalf
of his people, and answerable for violations of those
obhgations, as one people or nation is answerable
to another under similar circumstances; but the
Plymouth authorities had no more right, either
legal or moral, to send an armed force into his terri-
tory to arrest him at the point of a pistol, than the
duly constituted authorities of the United States
would have to send an army into Mexico to arrest
its president and bring him to Washington to ren-
der an account of alleged acts in violation of some
agreement between the two coimtries. Such an act
would be an act of war in the latter case, and it
was an act of war in Wamsutta's case.

If the EngUsh chose to look upon his alleged con-

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 243

duct as a cause of war, and took this course of
commencing hostilities "without denouncing any
war," as Bradford complains that Miantonomo had
done in his invasion of the Mohican territory
eighteen years before, they have no reason to criti-
cize the Indiana for treating it as an act of open
hostiUty. They had no definite evidence of any
wrongdoing on the part of Wamsutta. Suspicions
there were, and suspicions there had been from the
very beginning; but they had usually turned out
to be the product of the imagination or the out-
growth of the machinations of some wily chief to
cast suspicion upon some rival whom he feared, and
for whose overthrow he wished to enlist the assist-
ance of the whites.

There were rumors that Wamsutta was trying to
stir up trouble, to organize a general uprising.
Where the rumors came from no one knows, but
Wamsutta is said to have attributed it to some of
the Narragansetts when Captain Willett went to
Mount Hope to investigate; yet when the day
arrived on which he was to attend Court at
Plymouth, he was visiting in the Narragansett
country. If any of the chiefs of that tribe were
endeavoring to injure him in the eyes of the whites,
he evidently still retained the friendship of some of
them. The expression ' ' stir up trouble and organize
a general uprising" is capable of so many construc-
tions, that we are left in the dark as to what he was
suspected of doing. It is a sort of blanket indict-
ment calculated to cover almost anything that the
English might consider inimical to their interests.

244 MASSASOIT

If he went over to the Narragansett country to
confer with the sachems of that federation concern-
ing the encroachments of the English, to talk about
his grievances, to discuss, in a perfectly proper man-
ner, some method of securing concerted action in
peaceably resisting fiirther encroachments, it would
be a stirring up of trouble, the organizing of a
general uprising, even though there was no thought
of war, because it might cause some trouble to the
English in their land grabbing schemes. Besides,
there is not a scrap of evidence produced to show
that Wamsutta did even any of these things.

The whole story was probably without founda-
tion; for had any such attempt been made, his
counsellors would have known of it; and, being
privy to it, and in close touch with his negotiations
and arrangements, his arrest and death under such
circimistances as surrounded them, circumstances
that led his people to beheve that he had been
poisoned, as they claimed thirteen years later, was
all that was needed to kindle the spark he is charged
with having laid, into flame.

Notwithstanding this attack upon the person of
his brother and upon the sovereignty of his people,
Pometacom, or King Philip, seems at first to have
been desirous of continuing the friendly relations
with the whites that had marked the forty years of
his father's reign after the signing of the treaty
with Governor Carver. Within a very few months
of his succession to the great chieftaincy, he re-
newed the covenant which Massasoit had made
with the colonists; and in the winter of 1663-64

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 245

he sent to John Eliot for "books to learn to read
and to pray unto God." What an opportunity was
thus presented to the EngUsh to perpetuate the
bonds of friendship that had existed between them
and the Wampanoags from the beginning! Oh, for
the hand of a Roger Williams or the Quaker Gov-
ernor of Rhode Island at the helm for an hour at
that time! The history of King Philip's war would
never have been written if the Massachusetts
colonies had adopted the Rhode Island and Provi-
dence method of dealing with the natives.

Many causes have been assigned for the outbreak
that finally came, of which the one most frequently
mentioned is the land question; and while it is un-
doubtedly true that the natives saw with alarm
their forests cut down, their himting groimds given
over to the plow and to the pasturage of roviag
herds of cattle, and themselves constantly restricted
to narrower and narrower limits, this was only one
of the many causes as fully appears from the com-
plaint which Philip presented to Governor Easton.
The colonists say they never took an acre of the
Indians' land except by purchase, and if taking
advantage of the Indians' simpUcity and lack of ap-
preciation of the effect of their acts to secure a
township for a red coat, a county for thirty-five
poimds, can be dignified with the name of purchase,
their claim isi well founded. At the prices they
paid, the five himdred and forty poimds received
by Himt for the twenty-seven natives carried away
from Plymouth in 1614 would have purchased the
whole of Massachusetts. The Indians had been

246 MASSASOIT

crowded to the limit. Their sachems had improvi-
dently parted with the land which was a necessity
to the continued existence of their people, and
there had resulted disputes as to what was sold,
and "a writing must be proved against all them," a
paper prepared by whom? and understood by whom?
Not satisfied with thus driving sharp and imscru-
pulous bargains imtU only a small portion of the
land where they had formerly roamed and htmted at
will remained to the Indians, the whites, still covet-
ing the few acres that were left to them, continued
their acts of depredation until, goaded to despera-
tion, with justice denied him, with his sovereign
rights invaded, with no alternative left to him but
to die a death of slow starvation, or the glorious
death of a warrior fighting for his home and patri-
mony, the red man chose the latter.

The land difiiciilties undoubtedly first arose over
the difference between the Enghsh and the Indian
teniures. Individual allotments and individual
ownership was an estabhshed principle of the
Enghsh law, and while the colonists, after a while,
forbade the purchase of land by individual whites
from the Indians, except with the consent of the
authorities, this did not stop the abuses that had
arisen, for it does not appear that they ever vetoed
a sharp bargain driven by one of their people with
an Indian chief. Opposed to this idea of private
ownership was the Indian tenure by which the title
to the land was in the tribe, and the right to its use
was a common right, as indeed the fruits of the soil
and the spoils of the hunt were the common property

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 247

of all, except that the hunter was allowed the skins
of the animals killed by himself so far as the same
were necessary to the embeUishment and comfort of
his wigwam and the clothing of himself and his family.

With this commmiistic idea thoroughly estab-
lished in the Indian customs and laws, it is not sur-
prising that they should have thought that their
deeds were simply grants of rights to occupy in
common with themselves; and they discovered the
full import of their act only when the purchasers
took steps to dispossess them entirely; and it was
thus that the natives said the English claimed more
than they had granted and "there must be a writ-
ing," and when disputes arose "the Enghsh would
have an English arbitrator," and the decision was,
of course, always against the Indian.

The course pursued by the English in their deal-
ings with the natives, coupled with the lack of skill
in driving bargains on the part of the latter, who
were induced in some way to put their marks to
papers the true import of which they no more
understood than they did the mystery of their
existence and the wonders of nature, for a bauble
which was soon gone, was gradually reducing them
to a virtual state of vassalage to the men whom
they had welcomed, and with whom they were
willing to share their possessions, but who were not
satisfied to share, and seized upon every oppor-
tunity to grasp the whole. In fact, their treatment
of Wamsutta is evidence that the English had al-
ready assimied the authority to look upon them as
vassals.

248 MASSASOIT

When a proud and independent people awake to
the fact that this is their fate, but two courses are
open to them, either complete submission by active
consent or by silent acquiescence; or armed resist-
ance. The Mohicans, Pequots and Niantics chose
submission by active consent, the other Connecti-
cut Indians, except the Podunks and a few Nip-
mucks, submission by tacit non-resistance; and the
Wampanoags, the Narragansetts, the Podunks and
most of the Nipmucks in Massachusetts and the
few mentioned in Connecticut, chose armed resist-
ance; and all met the same fate. The resisting
warriors merely hastened theirs, preferring the death
of warriors amid the shouts of battle in the deadly
breach, to the death by slow starvation with their
hvehhood gone, or the hving death of vassalage.
Annihilation was the doom that was written for
them in every scrap of paper to which they put
their marks. Native simpHcity, relying upon the
native code of honor and native customs, could not
stand before European greed. What seemed to
Massasoit and to others following in his footsteps
to be the path of wisdom, viewed in the Mght he
possessed, turned out to be the path of destruction
for his people. The burning embers from the
peace pipe he extended to the first settlers kindled
into a flame that enveloped and wiped out his race.

So while the act of Major Winslow was the first
overt act in the great war, the causes that led up
to it had existed for a long time, reaching back at
least to the imjustified mm-der of Miantonomo in
1643, an act which was undoubtedly an important

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 249

factor in deciding the course of the Narragansetts;
but while the acts of which the Indians complained
had continued over a long period, it apparently
took the simple natives a long time to grasp their
full import, and still Phihp was willing to continue
the chain of friendship until he became convinced,
by fresh encroachments and continued acts of ag-
gression and abuse, that the two races with their
different customs of hving and different codes of
honor could not coexist on the same soil. Then
resulted the war of extermination for one or the
other.

That this war was not necessary we now know;
that all that was required to prevent it was fair play
and simple justice on the part of the whites, no one
who reads the history of those times without pas-
sion or prejudice wiU attempt to gainsay. The
issue of the war resulted in the establishment of the
ideals of government and the freedom we cherish,
but the same results might have been secmred with-
out the stain upon the white man's escutcheon that
time can never efface.

In justice to the colonial authorities it ought to
be said that not all the acts complained of should
be laid directly at their doors; but while xm-
doubtedly many of them were conunitted without
authority, and not in pursuit of any general policy,
the commissioners and magistrates cannot fully es-
cape the responsibility for them, because when
offences agarast the Indians were called to their
attention they did nothing to correct the abuses.
That they had no confidence in some of their own

250 MASSASOIT

people in their dealings with the natives is clearly
shown by a letter written to Governor Bradford by
Robert Cushman as early as 1623, in which the
writer says: "In the mean space know these things,
and I pray you be advised a little. Mr, Weston
hath quite broken off from our company through
some discontents that arose betwixt him and some
of our adventurers, and hath sould all his adven-
tures, and hath now sent three smale ships for his
particular plantation. The greatest whereof being
100 tun. Mr. Reynolds goeth and he with the
rest purposeth to come himselfe, for what end I
know not.

"The people which they cary are no men for us,
wherefore I pray you entertains them not, neither
exchange man for man with them excepte it be some
of your worst. He hath taken a patent for himselfe.
If they offer to buy anything of you let it be such
as you can spare, and let them give the worth of it.
If they borrow anything leave a good pawne. , . .
I fear these people will not deal so well with the
savages as they should. I pray you therefore sig-
nifie to Squanto, that they are a distinct body from
us, and we have nothing to doe with them, neither
can we be blamed for their faults, much less can
we warrante their fidelity."

This was the same Weston who in 1622 had estab-
lished a small colony at Wessagusset, where he had
dealt BO unfairly with the Indians of the Massa-
chusetts federation that they had planned the up-
rising of which Massasoit apprised Winslow in
March, 1623, and in which they had secured the

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 251

cooperation of several tribes of the Wampanoag
federation, and interested some one of Massasoit's
sub-sachems to the extent that he had endeavored
to secure his Great Sachem's consent to active par-
ticipation in the uprising. It was Weston's con-
duct on this occasion which was responsible for the
contemplated attack upon both Wessagusset and
Pljonouth, the natives not discriminating between
them, but, aroused by Weston's outrages, resolved
to wipe out the entire white race in New England;
and it is characteristic of the methods employed by
the colonists to settle such difficulties that they sent
Captain Standish to punish the Indians who were
concerned in the revolt, which he did; but did noth-
ing to prevent a repetition of the depredations of
Weston who had precipitated the trouble.

It was unquestionably the unscrupulous dealings
of men like these, covering nearly half a century,
that led to many of the complaints; but if the au-
thorities had shown half the zeal in preventing
their acts and pimishing the offenders that they did
in correcting abuses on the part of the Indians, the
grievances could easily have been adjusted.

WhUe Philip was under suspicion immediately
after Wamsutta's death, it is doubtful whether the
authorities had any foundation for the suspicion
outside of their own knowledge of wrongdoing on
their part and a belief that Philip might avenge
the wrongs to his brother and his people. It looks
like a case of troubled conscience, resembUng that
of the small boy who has been guilty of some infrac-
tion of parental discipline, and, being out alone

252 MASSASOIT

after dark, sees lurking in every shadow some fear-
ful agency for the punishment of his misdeeds.

Morton tells us "Metacom made his appearance
at the court held at Plymouth, August 6th (1662),
did earnestly desire the continuance of that amity
and friendship that hath formerly been between the
governor of Plymouth and his deceased father and
brother." The court thereupon presented articles
of agreement which he and his imcle Vucumpowet
(Akkompoin) signed.

From that time imtil 1671, Philip made many
concessions by way of land grants that are inex-
phcable on any other theory than that he was
willing to pay any price for peace. He sold parts
of Swansea in 1668 and 1669, and all this time he
and his people were complaining of their restricted
areas. Enough is known of his character to lead to
the conclusion that these sales were virtually forced
by fear of further acts of vindictive depredation and
injustice which he had learned to appreciate as the
Englishman's method of securing what he desired,
or in the belief that the insatiable greed of the
English for land might be finally appeased with-
out crowding his own people completely off the
earth.

In 1671 there were further misimderstandings
which were adjusted, but from that time on, Philip
was constantly under a cloud of suspicion. About
this same time, there were rumors of dissatisfaction
among the Narragansetts, the young sachems being
said to favor war, but the older ones counseling
peace, though the commissioners seemed to think

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 253

that the latter were dissembhng, and really favored
the resort to arms. If Philip was actually engaged
in an attempt to arouse the Indians to open revolt
at that time, he so adroitly baffled their efforts to
secure evidence against him that some historians
say there isn't a particle of evidence that he ever
actually engaged the cooperation of any other
tribe.

Matters ran along in this way until the winter of
1674, when John Sassamon, a Massachusetts In-
dian, who had been educated at Harvard and was
an itinerant preacher among the Indians, revealed
Philip's plottings to the Plymouth authorities. He
had been employed by Philip as a secretary, and in
this way claimed to have secured his information.
Knowledge of Sassamon's perfidy reached Philip in
some way, and Sassamon suddenly disappeared, and
some time later his body was found under the ice in
Assawamsett Pond, with the neck broken and other
indications of foul play. Three Indians came under
suspicion and they were arrested and indicted by the
grand jury. They were subsequently tried by a
jury, and five Indians were called in to hear the evi-
dence against them; and these five concurred in the
verdict. The three were hanged, two of them pro-
testing their innocence. Phihp had been siumnoned
to Plymouth to testify to his connection with the
taking off of Sassamon, but did not appear, whether
from fear of the consequences or in defiance of the
colonists' attempts to subject him, to their au-
thority, we can only conjecture. In any event, the
series of depredations that led directly to the war

254 MASSASOIT

began immediately after the execution of the men
who were charged with the death of Sassamon.

In connection with the trial of these men one is
constrained to inquire under what authority the
EngUsh assumed jurisdiction of this matter. There
is no evidence that Sassamon was subject to them
or under their special protection by reason of any
treaty or agreement. The three men whom they
tried for his murder were Indians, and, if they be-
longed in the vicinity where the crime was com-
mitted, were subjects of the sachem Tuspaquin, and
the offence was against the laws of the territory of
that chief. It was by such acts as this, the utter
ignoring of the rights of the natives to deal with
offenders among their own people against men who
were not subject to the EngUsh, and on their own
territory, that the colonists goaded the Indians to
war.

Philip's men Umited their depredations to the
killing of the cattle and hogs of the English and
carrying away their property, the pm-pose ap-
parently being to drive the colonists to the first acts
of violence against the person; and this soon re-
sulted, an Indian being shot and wounded in Swan-
sea, while committing some act of depredation; and
thus the war begim.

July 4, 1675, Captains Moseley and Page, who
were pursuing Philip, received orders to go over
into the Narragansett country and secure a treaty
with the sachems there; and, as a result, they did
succeed in getting a pledge of assistance, signed by
"Agamand, Wampsh, alias Gorman, Taitson and

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 255

Tawagason, counsellors and attorneys to Canonicus
fPessacusX Ninigret, Matababug, old Quen Quain-
pen, Quananshet QCanonchet] and Pomham, the six
present sachems of the whole Narragansett country."
It is significant that not one of the sachems purports
to have signed in person; nor is there any evidence
that they were present, or that the signatories
actually had any authority to sign for them.

About this time, commissioners also attempted to
treat with the Nipmucks between the Merrimao and
the Connecticut Rivers, but found the young men
"surly and insolent," although the old men "showed
an inclination for peace." These Nipmucks, the
Podunks, who are said to have fmrnished two hun-
dred warriors, the Nashuas, all the Narragansett
sachems except Ninigret, who was really a Niantic,
and the Wampanoags, constituted Philip's force, the
Narragansetts coming in late in the fall of 1675.
It is claimed by some writers that they were under
an agreement with Phihp to furnish four thousand
warriors for an uprising in the spring of 1676, but
the death of Sassamon and the execution of his
alleged murderers hastened the breaking out of
hostihties to such an extent that they did not par-
ticipate for some months.

From the spring of 1675 until the final overthrow
of Philip's forces, no place could feel that it was
safe from attack. The towns of Central Massa-
chusetts suffered most severely, the Narragansetts
and Wampanoags sweeping up from their territory
and joining the Nipmucks and Nashuas in the
attacks.

256 MASSASOIT

The Indians suffered their first serious defeat in
the swamp fight at East Kingston, Rhode Island,
December 19, 1675, where three himdred warriors
were killed, according to information given by an
old squaw who escaped the conflagration caused by
the English setting fire to the wigwams, burning
women and children. It was at Lancaster on Feb-
ruary 10, 1676, that Mary Rowlandson, the minis-
ter's wife, and her children were taken in an attack
upon that town by the Wampanoags under PhUip,
Narragansetts under Quinapen and the Nashuas
and Nipmucks led by Sagamore Sam and one-eyed
John of the Marlborough "praying Indians." She
remained a captive for some time, living in the wig-
wam of Weetamo, who was then one of the squaws
of Quinapen; and on one occasion dining with
PhiUp, as she relates in her narrative of her experi-
ences.

Meeting with various reverses, and losing some of
their leaders, the Wampanoags and Narragansetts
were finally driven into the swamps around Moimt
Hope in July, 1676. Here the "Old Queen" was
slain in that month. It is said that the losses of
Philip and his alUes amounted to three thousand
warriors at that time, but he made another attempt
to tm-n the tide. On July 30, Governor Winslow
received word at Marshfield that a strong force was
on the march against Taunton or Bridgewater. He
hastened to Plymouth, and sununoned Captain
Church, directing him to rally his forces at once.
By this time Phihp, apparently seeing the futiUty
of proceeding further, was withdrawing his men.

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 257

It was on this retreat, while crossing the river at
Taunton on a tree which the Indians had felled to
form a bridge, that Akkompoin, the younger brother
of Massasoit, was slain with several of his men; and
Philip himself came very near meeting the same
fate, according to Captain Church, who says that
on the morning following Akkompoin's death, he
saw an Indian sitting on a log and raised his rifle
to fire, when one of his Indians called out that it
was a friend, upon which he lowered his gun; and
the Indian looked at them and fled. It afterwards
turned out to be Phflip himself.

Early in August an Indian reported that Philip
was at Mount Hope and Chtu-ch went after him.
They came upon him by surprise, and Church aimed
at him but his gun missed fire, whereupon he ordered
a Seaconnet Indian who was with him to shoot him
down. He obeyed, and Philip fell on August 12,
1676, shot through the heart by one of his own
people named by the EngUsh, John Alderman.

His force was by this time completely shattered,
many of his sachems having fallen and others hav-
ing come in on promises of clemency only to learn
that clemency meant either death or slavery as best
suited the English. Some of the Nipmucks fled to
the west, where they were undoubtedly absorbed by
other tribes; and it is said that a remnant of the
Wampanoags escaped into Maine where they be-
came merged with the Penobscots.

After Philip's death Church declared that inas-
much as he had caused many Englishmen to remain
unbiuied, no part of him should have burial. An

258 MASSASOIT

Indian was summoned who was directed to cut off
the head and quarter the body. The head was sent
to Plymouth where it was exposed upon a pole for
more than a score of years. His hands were sent
to Boston, and his quartered body was himg up in
the trees where he fell. Church and his men re-
turned to Plymouth "and received their premium,
which was thirty shillings per head for the enemies
which they had kiUed or taken, instead of wages.
Philip's head went at the same price," according to
Captain Church.

The Plymouth clergy celebrated his death with
the same blasphemous utterances in which they
were wont to give vent to their spleen upon such
occasions. The Rev. Increase Mather says: "There
was he, like as Agag was hewed in pieces before the
Lord, cut into four quarters, and is now himg up
as a monument of revenging justice, his head being
cut off and carried to Plymouth. So let all thine
enemies perish, O Lord! Thus did God break the
head of that Leviathan and give it to be meat of
the people inheriting the wilderness."

The authorities at Plymouth had appointed a
day of thanksgiving for their success. Philip's head
reached the town that day. Rev. Cotton Mather
says, " God sent 'em in the head of a Leviathan for
a thanksgiving feast."

So perished the last of the Great Chiefs of New
England to make a stand against the encroach-
ments of the deadly enemies of his people. Of his
character much has been written, and the net result
of it all is that we know almost nothing concerning

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 259

it. Church says he was always the first in flight,
but then proceeds to give the he to the statement
by saying he was seen sitting on a log at Taunton
River the morning after his imcle and some of his
men were killed. Some writers claim that he pos-
sessed no particular skill as an organizer, and
lacked the native eloquence with which some of the
children of the forest roused their followers to
frenzy; while others rank him as a person of great
powers of body and mind, capable of stirring men
to action and not hesitating to risk his own life in
leading his men against the foe. The reader is at
liberty to take his choice; but it may not be amiss
to suggest that such a revolt as he is credited in his-
tory with having led does not arise spontaneously,
nor can it be aroused by a man lackiag in personal
magnetism, persuasive oratory and physical prowess.
Was he a blood-thirsty savage bent on destruction
of the whites without cause; or was he a true
patriot contending for all that life holds dear, and
sacrificing his own life to the ideals of his race,
freedom, home and the defence of his fatherland?
Undoubtedly most men who have read history have
already drawn their conclusions, and no word of
mine is likely to cause them to change their minds;
but before consigning his name to eternal infamy,
let us look careftilly to the conditions surroimding
him, to the grievances of his people, and then let us
ask ourselves what we would have done had we
been in his pkce. What have men of all races and
of all time done under similar circumstances? and
what appraisal do we place upon their character?

260 MASSASOIT

Is there any reason why we should not place Philip
of Pokanoket in the class with other men who
have made the supreme sacrifice for the mainte-
nance of the same ideals?

PhiUp married Wootonekanuske, a sister of Wee-
tamo, and beUeved to be a daughter of Corbitant
of the Pocassets, one of the branches of the Wam-
panoag federation; and, so far as history records,
she was his only wife, for while polygamy seems to
have been practiced among the Narragansetts in
some instances, Quinapen being ^aid by Mrs. Row-
landson to have had three squaws, there is nothing
of record to lead to any inference that either Massa-
soit, Wamsutta or Philip had more than one wife,
or that polygamy was ever practiced among the
Wampanoags. By her he had two children, one of
whom died in infancy, and the other, a young boy
at the time of his father's death, was sold with his
mother into slavery. The clergy were appealed to
by the authorities for their opinion as to what
should be done with him, and these followers of
Him who said, "Suffer little children to come imto
me," were in favor of mvudering the child; but the
authorities for some reason reserved him for a
worse fate and so the grandson of the man who
had made their position secure ended his life a slave.

PuMHAM is janked second to Philip in ability
among the leaders of the natives in the uprising.
His name appears as one of the six sachems of the
Narragansett coimtry in the treaty which Captains
Moseley and Page secured from the coimsellors in
July, 1675. He is spoken of as sachem of Showa-

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 261

met, now Warwick, Ehode Island. In July, 1676, he
led an invasion into the territory around Medfield
and Dedham, Massachusetts, and on the twenty-
fifth of that month, fifty of his band were captured;
but he refused to surrender and was shot.

QuiNAPEN was a nephew of Miantonomo. After
Weetamo left her fourth husband . because of his
adherence to the Enghsh, Quinapen, though much
yoimger than she, took her as the third of his squaws.
He was an active participant with his warriors ia
the various raids by the Narragansetts and is
known to have led them in the attack on Lancaster
in February, 1676. After his capture in August of
that year, he told his captors that he had been
second in command at the swamp fight at East
Kingston. He was shot at Newport soon after his
capture.

Canonchet, a son of Miantonomo, is referred to
as the Chief Sachem of the Narragansetts. He is
said to have entered the war with two thousand
warriors. Whether this is intended to include the
entire strength of the Narragansetts, all of them
being in a sense, under his command, or only his
own immediate followers is uncertain. Early in the
spring of 1676, he and Kiag Phihp swept aroimd
Seekonk, Massachusetts, with fifteen hundred war-
riors, and there were six or seven hundred around
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, at the same time; but
this really throws no light upon the question, be-
cause we do not know how many of these were
Wampanoags. Canonchet was in command at the
swamp fight, with his cousin Quinapen second.

262 MASSASOIT

In the raid around Seekonk and Pawtucket in
the spring of 1676, he was crossing the Blackstone
River, when his foot slipped, throwing him into the
water and wetting his gun so that it became useless.
This misfortune so disheartened him for the mo-
ment that he was easily overtaken by a swift-footed
Pequot, who was with a pm-suing party of whites
and Indians. After his capture, the first English-
man to approach him presented a very youthful
appearance. When this young man attempted to
interrogate him, he replied, "You much chUd. No
imderstand matters of war. Let your brother or
yotu" chief come. Him I will answer." His cap-
ture occurred on March 27th; and he was taken to
Stonington, Connecticut, where, after the mockery
of a trial, he was first offered his life if he ■would
become an ally of the English. This he steadfastly
refused, and when reminded of "his boast that he
would not deliver up so much as a paring of a Wam-
panoag nail when called upon by the English to
give up their enemies, and hia threat that he would
bum them ahve in their houses," his corn-age re-
mained unshaken; and when told that his sentence
was death, he stoically replied that it pleased him
well that he should die before his heart was soft and
he had said anything unworthy of himself. " This,"
says the devout Hubbard, "was the confusion of a
damned wretch that had often opened his mouth
to blaspheme the name of the living God and those
that make profession thereof," to which he might
have truthfully added, but whose practices did not
square with their professions; and who worshipped

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 263

the "living God" with their lips, but blasphemed
His name by their every act.

The sentence of the com-t was carried out in the
manner described by Hubbard in the following
words: "And that all might share in the glory of
destroying so great a prince and come under the
obhgation of fidelity to each other, the Pequots shot
him, the Mohicans cut off his head and quartered
his body, and the Ninnicrafts (a name apparently
sometimes apphed to the Niantics) made the fire
and burned his quarters, and as a token of their love
and fidehty to the English, presented his head to
the counsel of Hartford."

Whether the Pequot traitor to his native land
and his people received the thirty pieces of silver
for his head, or whether the Connecticut troops and
their allies were paid in some other way, we are not
told. He fell a victim to the same methods of deal-
ing with the natives that had marked the end of his
father, Miantonomo, and at the hands of the same
cruel enemies of his nation, acting as the agents of
the real enemies of them all, who simply used the
Mohicans as their catspaws until such time as it
should suit their purpose to destroy them by insidi-
ous acts of oppression worse than war. These two
men stand, in unbiased history, with PhiUp, as
leaders of their race, who earnestly desired an honor-
able peace with the whites; and who labored to se-
ciu-e it with the blessings of a higher civiUzation for
their people; but who were swallowed up in the
maelstrom of English land covetousness, suspicion
and trickery.

264 MASSASOIT

TusPAQum has already been referred to as the
sachem of the Assawamsetts and probably of the
Nemaskets, the two tribes occupymg the territory
now included in the towns of Lakeville and Middle-
borough, and parts of Freetown (East), Rochester,
and Acushnet. He is commonly referred to as the
"Black Sachem." He married Amie, daughter of
Massasoit, and had two sons, William and Benja-
min. At the outbreak of the war, he joined with
his brother-in-law Philip in his attempt to redress
by force of arms the grievances of his people, suf-
fered at the hands of the English. WiUiam is said
to have followed his father, and to have lost his
life early in the war, no mention of him appearing
after the spring of 1675.

Early in July, 1676, the authorities issued a gen-
eral proclamation offering clemency to such of their
enemies as should come in and give themselves up.
Tuspaquin, still adhering to PhiHp, did not avail
himself of this offer; and after the death of Philip,
Captain Benjamin Church went looking for him.
Church went to Rochester, but was told that he
had gone away to the southward; whereupon he
took Tuspaquin's wife and children and returned
with them to Plymouth, leaving two squaws to tell
him what had become of his family and that he
would spare all their lives and his too, if he would
come down to them and bring the other two that
were with him. Church informs us that he was
acting upon a commission from Plymouth which
authorized him "to receive to mercy, give quarter
or not, excepting some particular and noted mur-

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 265

derers, viz. : Philip and all that were at the destroy-
ing of Mr. Clarke's garrison and some few others."
Tuspaquin does not come within either of these
classes unless it is "some few others"; and the
question naturally arises, if he was in that class, why
did Church promise to spare his life and the lives
of the two others who were with him?

Tuspaquin came in with the two others, and the
authorities, taking advantage of Church's absence
on business in Boston, executed both Tuspaquin and
Annawon to whom Chm^ch had given his word that
he would intercede in his behalf. This promise he
faithfully kept, and it was no fault of his that those
in authority broke their promises made through him
to Tuspaquin. Attention should here be called to
the fact that some inducement had been held out
to bim beyond the mere promise of clemency, for
we are told that he bad "hopes of being made a
captain under Church," but when the authorities
at Plymouth decided upon his execution in Church's
absence, they claimed that "the promise of a cap-
tain's place depended upon his being impenetrable
by bullets, a claim that the Indians had made for
him." So in order to put him to the test they con-
fronted him with a firing squad with the result that
we would expect; but which their pious historians
exploit with great gusto, probably meaning to infer
that he was not executed, but was merely being
tried out to determine whether he met with the
requirements for a captaincy. They conclude with
a statement that he was foimd to be penetrable by
the English guns, for he fell down at the first shot

266 MASSASOIT

and thereby received the "just reward for his
wickedness." Was he shot as a "reward for his
wickedness," or to test the question of his impene-
trability? If there is any one thing for which the
early writers were more noted than for another, it
is not consistency. That this claim was merely a
subterfuge under which the English sought to cloak
their perfidy must be perfectly apparent to the
discerning reader.

Annawon, the last of PhiKp's great captains, is
spoken of by Schoolcraft as an imcle of Philip, but
I find nothing in the writings of historians of the
early period to warrant the belief that he was in
any way related to the royal family of the Poka-
nokets, and in boasting of his prowess after his cap-
ture, he speaks of Massasoit simply as Philip's
father. This is not by any means conclusive, how-
ever, as we have no knowledge of Massasoit's wife,
and Annawon may well have been her brother.
If there is anything in the early history to establish
this fact or to lead to any inference that it is a fact,
I have not found it. There is no doubt that he was
one of Massasoit's counsellors and "men of valor,"
and he may have been related to him by blood or
marriage.

At the fight in the swamp below Moimt Hope,
immediately following Philip's death, the English
plainly heard some one shouting, "lootash! lootash!"
("Stand firm! Stand firm!") On inquiry of some
of their Indian allies, the English were told that this
was Old Annawon, Philip'a captain. With the
faithful few of the Wampanoags who refused to

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 267

take advantage of the English offers of clemency or
of the opportunities for flight to distant lands, Anna-
won made his way into Rehoboth, Massachusetts,
where they constructed a rude shelter by felling
trees against the perpendicular side of a ledge that
extends a distance of about seventy-five feet, at a
height of about twenty-five feet in its highest place,
a short distance from the highway running from
Tatmton to Providence. Some of his men who
were out on a foraging party were discovered and
followed by Captain Chxirch, who recites in detail
the manner of his capture. He tells of lowering him-
self down from the top of the rock to the level of the
camp by clinging to the branches of the trees; but
as the distance from the top of the rock to the level
of the shelter is only about six feet at that place,
and easily traversed, this looks hke some of Church's
exploitation of his personal prowess. The ledge
where he was captured has ever since been known
as "Annawon's Rock." After his surprise and
capture, while Chm-ch and Annawon were lying
side by side to rest for the night, the latter sud-
denly arose and walked away. Church not molesting
him. After some time, he returned and laid down
a quantity of wampiun and Philip's personal be-
longings, saying they had been his king's, but as
they had killed the king, he supposed they belonged
to the English.

If there was any foundation for Annawon's claim
that he had been a mighty warrior and had per-
formed deeds of valor "when serving under Philip's
father," it is apparent that he must have been an

268 MASSASOIT

old man at that time. Massasoit was not engaged
in any wars that called for heroic exploits after
1620, and probably none after the decimation of his
tribe by the plague in 1616 or 1617, unless it was
the war with the Narragansetts which resulted in
the loss to them of Aquidnick. Indian youths were
not trained for war until they were eighteen, and
so Annawon must have been born around 1600 or
before. At any rate he was old enough not to be a
menace to the whites with all his warriors gone, and
the only explanation of his execution is in the words
used by the Enghsh in their characterization of the
Indians. Cruel, blood-thirsty vindictiveness is the
only answer to the question. Why did they refuse to
Usten to the plea of Church for leniency, and shoot
this old man who was on the verge of the grave?
What became of the small band that was captured
with him including his son, we are not told, but
from what we know of the colonists' methods, it is
not difficult for us to see them in fancy wearing out
their lives and fretting away their freeborn spirits
imder the slave drivers' lash in the West Indies.

The "lootash" of old Annawon still rings in our
ears as the last defiant cry of a people who dreamed
of a life of peace and harmony with the strangers
from across the great waters; but who, after half a
century of devotion to the work of bringing about
the realization of their dream, were rudely awakened
to the futility of attempting to reconcile the different
ideals, different manners of living, different customs,
different codes of honor and different stages of prog-
ress of the two races; and to the fact that the

KING PHILIP AND HIS CAPTAINS 269

attempt was bound to result in virtual vassalage
for the less advanced.

I speak of different ideals; but, while it is true
that the two races were widely separated in many
respects, a careful analysis of the cause for which
the red men fought shows that they made the su-
preme sacrifice for much the same ideals that actu-
ated the whites in their struggles for freedom.
They were contending for liberty, justice and equal-
ity, the liberty they enjoyed before the white man
came, justice at the hands of the men whose enter-
prise they had aided, in their dealings with them,
and equality with the colonists in the enjoyment of
that liberty and the administration of that justice.

And so the "lootash" of Annawon was nothing
more nor less than an appeal to his handful of fol-
lowers to stand firm for the ideals which we are
accustomed to call "American," and which are
American in a broader sense than we apply the
term, because they were the ideals of the first
Americans of whom we have any definite knowledge.

Annawon stood firm for the protection of the
families and homes of his people, for the graves of
his fathers and the freedom of his hunting grounds;
and out of respect to the memory of his race and his
valiant band, the last of the tribe of Massasoit, this
work has been prepared, in the hope that it may
aid in awakening a spirit of justice and fair play on
the part of the sons of their exterminators that
shall stand firm for a proper appreciation of their
character as the early defenders of the principles
we cherish; and of the part their friendship for the

270 MASSASOIT

colonists, in the days of their weakness, played in
laying the foimdation upon which succeeding genera-
tions have estabUshed what we are pleased to call
the American Ideal.

The blind, unreasoning suspicion and hate of an
earlier age ruthlessly and needlessly crushed the
hopes and aspirations of a once free and friendly
people beneath the cornerstone of the structure, and
stained it with the lifeblood of a race. We cannot
wipe away the stain, but we may avoid participation
in the sins of the fathers, and make atonement for
them, by standing firm for the ideals for which the
children of nature, as well as the sons of their de-
stroyers, have shed their blood; and by giving to
the aborigines the meed of honor which is their due.
Let them take their place in history beside the men
of other races and other climes who have struggled
against' the forces which would sweep them away;
who have fearlessly bared their breasts in defence
of their freedom and the right to transmit it to
their posterity.

The man dies, but the memory of his deeds re-
mains as a priceless heritage to those who come
after him; and the last defiant cry of Annawon to
his followers is his contribution to history, his legacy
to the world. In the cause of his ideals and ours,
himianity calls to us to hear and heed the cry,
"lootashl"